Microstructure and Magnetic Field-Induced Strain of a Ni-Mn-Ga-Co-Gd High-Entropy Alloy

The effect of a high-entropy design on martensitic transformation and magnetic field-induced strain has been investigated in the present study for Ni-Mn-Ga-Co-Gd ferromagnetic shape-memory alloys. The purpose was to increase the martensitic transition temperature, as well as the magnetic field-induced strain, of these materials. The results show that there is a co-existence of β, γ, and martensite phases in the microstructure of the alloy samples. Additionally, the martensitic transformation temperature shows a markedly increasing trend for these high-entropy samples, with the largest value being approximately 500 °C. The morphology of the martensite exhibits typical twin characteristics of type L1(0). Moreover, the magnetic field-induced strain shows an increasing trend, which is caused by the driving force of the twin martensite re-arrangement strengthening.