Preferred site occupation and magnetic properties of Ni-Fe-Ga-Co ferromagnetic shape memory alloys by first-principles calculations

Abstract

First-principles calculations have been used to investigate the effects of Co addition on the preferred site occupation and magnetic properties of Ni-Fe-Ga-Co ferromagnetic shape memory alloys. The formation energy results indicate that the excess Ni constituent preferentially occupies the Fe sites in the off-stoichiometric Ni-Fe-Ga ternary alloy. The added Co tends to take the normal-Ni sites in the Ni-Fe-Ga-Co quaternary alloy during composition adjustment process. The total magnetic moment increases with Co content of the Ni36-xFe12Ga16Cox (x=0, 1, 2, 3 and 4) alloys. The difference between the up and down electronic density of states at the Fermi level gives rise to the increased magnetic property.