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Neutron scattering and ultrasonic methods have been used to study the lattice dynamics of two single crystals of Ni-Mn-In Heusler alloys close to Ni50Mn34In16 magnetic superelastic composition. The paper reports on the experimental determination of the low-lying phonon-dispersion curves and the elastic constants for this alloy system. We found that the frequencies of the TA2 branch are relatively low and it exhibits a small dip anomaly at a wave number ξ0≈1/3, which softens with decreasing temperature. Associated with the softening of this phonon, we also observed the softening of the shear elastic constant C′=(C11−C12)/2. Both temperature softenings are typical for bcc-based solids which undergo martensitic transformations and reflect the dynamical instability of the cubic lattice against shearing of {110} planes along ⟨11̅ 0⟩ directions. Additionally, we measured low-lying phonon-dispersion branches and elastic constants in applied magnetic fields aimed to characterize the magnetoelastic coupling.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/d_l_schlagel/42/
This article is from Physical Review B 79 (2009): 214118, doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.79.214118.