Giant isotropic magnetostrain of GaCMn3

Normal magnetostriction (MS), which comes from the gradual rotation of magnetic domains in ferromagnets, is anisotropic and smoothly dependent on the applied magnetic field. In cubic antiperovskite compound GaCMn3, a sharp shrink of lattice volume takes place at the antiferromagnetic (AFM) to intermediate magnetic (IM) phase transition. Below the Neel temperature (∼143 K), the AFM-IM transformation can be driven by external magnetic field, leading to a giant isotropic MS of ∼1700 ppm comparable to that of commercial Terfenol-D. In contrast to normal MS, the field-induced magnetostrain exhibits a rapid switch behavior at the critical field. Furthermore, good reversibility and stability were demonstrated for the giant MS of GaCMn3 compound.