Strongly enhanced antiferromagnetism and giant spontaneous exchange bias in i50Mn36Co4Sn10 Heusler alloy.

An enormous spontaneous exchange bias (EB) was obtained after zero-field cooling in Ni50Mn36Co4Sn10 Heusler alloy. It can be attributed to the enhancement of antiferromagnetism, which induces a strong interaction with superferromagnetism, superspin glass, and superparamagnetism. In addition, the EB with an abrupt drop below the lower temperature of 5K was observed, which can be interpreted as the fact that the rotation of the antiferromagnetic spins from a disordered state to a more ordered state is hindered by domain wall pinning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]