In-situ Scattering Study of the Fast Magnetostructural Response (ms-to-s) in Magnetic Shape Memory Alloys

Smart materials which provide rapid responses to mechanical and magnetic stimuli holdthe promise for future generations of sensors and actuators. Ferromagnetic shapememory alloys (FSMA), which exhibit such responses can transform a wide spectrum oftransducer technologies in diversified fields such as aerospace, automotive, underwaternavigation, biomedical, surveillance and consumer electronics. For many of theseapplications, it is desired that the FSMA components are able to respond to fast dynamiccycling under combined application of magnetic fields and stress. In order to designFSMAs outstanding cyclic responses and longer durability, it is necessary to comprehend,at the microscopic level, the magnetostructural phenomena in these materials at fastertimescales (1 ms to 1 s), for which there is a large knowledge gap at the present. Under acurrent GRF, we have developed and demonstrated in-situ X-ray and neutronscattering techniques to determine the fundamental mechanisms for magnetoelasticcoupling in FSMAs, which include twin-boundary motion and the rotation of magneticmoments under applied load or magnetic field. Here, we will improve on these techniquesin order to probe in the dynamical regime of the magnetostructural responses in FSMAsin the ms-to-s timescales. Specifically, we propose to study the dynamic behavior ofFSMAs with neutron and synchrotron X-ray scattering measurements under thefollowing conditions: (a) combined magnetic field and cyclic mechanical stress, (b)pulsed magnetic field over ms timescales. The proposed study will extend our insightsinto the dynamic nature of the magnetostructural responsess, which will further shedlight on the strong magnetoelastic coupling in FSMAs, thereby providing guidance fordesigning new materials for dynamic sensor and actuator applications.