The effect of Mn on structural, magnetic and magnetoresistance properties of Ni–Mn–Sb Heusler melt spun ribbons under extreme conditions

Abstract Ni 50 − x Mn 37 + x Sb 13 (NMS ( x = 4–6)) melt-spun Heusler ribbon was fabricated by employing the arc melting technique. Also, the electrical, structural, and magnetic characteristics of melt-spun alloy ribbons with chemically increased Mn (a decrease in Ni concentration) content are also being investigated. Further, it has been noticed that, the Curie temperatures of the austenitic ( T C A ) phase and the martensitic phase transition temperature ( T M ) are both shifted toward higher temperatures, by increasing the amount of Mn under 500 Oe (0.05 T) of applied magnetic fields. The discontinuity of field cooling (FC) and zero field cooling (ZFC) curves reveals the irreversibility of magnetization caused by inhomogeneous magnetic anisotropy lower the exchange bias (EB) (blocking bias) temperature. Furthermore, the disappearance of exchange bias (EB) in ribbon alloys with increasing temperature is supported by the fact that coercivity ( H C ) gradually increases with temperature and increases at 40 K, and then decreases with temperature. Additionally, a −Δ S Max of −5.21 Jkg −1 ·K −1 for a ribbon with x = 6 is acquired at 312 K with a 50 kOe (5 T) change in the applied magnetic field. Increases in Mn content result in −Δ S M values in NMS alloy ribbons of −4.3, −4.7, and −5.2 Jkg −1 ·K −1 and the same trend is observed in negative magneto-resistance ((−MR) (%)) values of −9%, −11%, and −14% for x = 4–6, respectively. Here, the super zone boundary that is close to the Fermi surface is responsible for the change in −MR.