Isothermal Martensitic Transformation Kinetics in Ni-Mn-Sn Ferromagnetic Shape Memory Alloys

This study examines the kinetics of the martensitic phase transformation in a representative Ni-Mn-Sn Heusler alloy. Here, we present data on isothermal and continuous cooling/warming transformations in both bulk polycrystalline and individual small particle samples. We demonstrate that while the martensite to austenite transformation proceeds very rapidly (faster than the time-scale of our observations), the austenite to martensite transformation has a significant isothermal component. A similar asymmetry is also noted in transformation behavior of individual martensite plates. We conclude that the observed time dependence is due primarily to nucleation-limited kinetics.