Anomalous thermal expansion and enhanced magnetocaloric effect in<001>-textured Mn_(x)Fe_(5-x)Si_(3) alloys

The development of zero and negative therma expansion(i.e.,ZTE and NTE)materials is of crucial importance to the control of undesirable thermal expansion for high-precision devices.In the present work,ZTE and NTE were obtained in directionally-solidified Mn_(x)Fe_(5-x)Si_(3)alloys with a strong<001>texture,in striking contrast to positive thermal expansion in their isotropic counterparts Magnetometry and in-situ X-ray diffraction(XRD)measurements were performed to uncover the origin of the anomalous thermal expansion.Magnetic measurements indicate a strong easy-plane magnetocrystalline anisotropy in the textured samples,where the magnetic moments are aligned within the ab plane of the hexagonal structure Temperature-dependent XRD on the x=1 sample reveals a ZTE character in the ab plane that is coupled to a ferromagnetic transition.As a result,the macroscopic ZTE(~0.22×10^(-6)K^(-1))in the x=1 sample can be attributed to the microscopic magneto volume effect within the ab plane,which is realized by the introduction of the<001>-textured microstructure.Besides,the competition between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic exchange coupling leads to NTE in textured x=1.5 and 2 samples.Additionally,textured x=1 sample displays enhanced magnetocaloric properties as compared to the conventional counterparts with randomly-oriented grains.Consequently this work demonstrates a new strategy toward the exploration of anomalous thermal expansion properties as well as the enhancement of magnetocaloric properties for materials with a strong magnetocrystalline anisotropy.