Electronic and structural properties of Fe ₃Pd-Pt ferromagnetic shape memory alloys

Ferromagnetic shape memory (FSM) alloys are scientifically and technologically interesting materials that combine ferromagnetism with a reversible martensitic phase transformation. Fe ₇₀Pd ₃₀ has recently been shown to display a FSM effect at usable temperatures and low fields. Reported here are results of experimental studies on Fe ₇₀Pd ₃₀ and electronic structure calculations on Fe ₇₀Pd _30-xPt _x. The calculations show that additions of Pt by 6 at% to Fe ₇₀Pd ₃₀ can triple the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. There is, however, a large discrepancy between the measured and calculated anisotropy values of Fe ₇₀Pd ₃₀, suggesting the presence of significant disorder in the measured samples. Other calculated structural and magnetic properties are in close agreement with experimental values.