Phonon dispersion in the ferromagnetic shape memory alloy Ni2MnGa studied by neutron spectroscopy

Neutron spectroscopy is an ideal technique to study the structure and dynamics of crystals. For the ferromagnetic shape memory alloy Ni2MnGa, all previously obtained information from inelastic neutron scattering experiments is restricted to the phonon dispersion in the austenitic (fcc) phase of alloys with different compositions. For the (tetragonally distorted) martensitic phase recent inelastic neutron scattering data are presented. These new data were taken on a single crystal with stoichiometric composition. A single-variant martensitic phase of the sample has been obtained by the application of magnetic fields in horizontal or vertical direction with respect to the scattering plane used in the experiments. The measured phonon-dispersion curves are compared with recently published ab initio (zero-temperature) phonon-dispersion calculations. The anomalous phonon behavior observed in both, the austenitic and martensitic phase is discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.