Electronic structure, and magnetic properties of a new quaternary Heusler alloy: NiFeTiGa

This work reports structural and magnetic study of a new quaternary Heusler alloy NiFeTiGa. We have studied the phase stability through first-principle calculations. The alloy was synthesized, and the crystal structure of the system is characterized using high-resolution synchrotron x-ray diffraction (XRD) and found to adopt the cubic LiMgPdSn type crystal structure. Magnetic properties have been measured as a function of temperature and magnetic field. The saturation magnetization at 5 K is found to be 0.11 µB/f.u.. The system displays very soft ferromagnetism and competing magnetic interactions with Curie temperature (TC) at 91 K.