Effect of Electronic and Magnetic Valences on Phase Transition and Magnetic Properties in Co-Ni-Al-RE (RE = Gd, Dy and Er) Alloys

The effect of the electronic and magnetic valence state on the phase transition and magnetic properties of several Co-Ni-Al-RE (RE = Gd, Dy and Er) ferromagnetic shape memory alloys were investigated. The martensitic transformation temperature showed a distinct increase with increasing the valence electron concentration, but no obvious change in the magnetic properties of the alloys was observed with increasing the valence electron concentration. On the other hand, the magnetic properties of the sample increased with the magnetic valence number of the alloy, while no change was observed in the phase transformation temperature with the magnetic valence number.