Alignments and Orientations of MnSn₂ Phase during the Solidification Process of Sn–Mn Alloy under a High Magnetic Field

Abstract

It has been reported that MnSn₂ exhibited unusual magnetic behaviors related to its crystal structure. However, little work has been done to investigate its behavioral responses to a high magnetic field (HMF), which is of potentially fundamental interest. Based on this, binary Sn–Mn alloy was solidified under different HMFs in this work. The results show that the primary MnSn₂ crystals appear block- or bar-like shapes in both the longitudinal and transverse sections. In the longitudinal sections, however, the HMFs tend to align the bar-like crystals with the long axes perpendicular to the magnetic field. In the transverse sections, the HMFs have little influence on the alignments of the bar-like crystals but increase their amount. A crystallographic study indicates that 〈110〉 is the easy magnetization axis of the MnSn₂ crystals that orients preferentially parallel to the magnetic field. These results are attributed to the magnetic anisotropy of the MnSn₂ crystals.

Fig. 5 Schematic diagrams showing the 3D alignments of the primary MnSn₂ crystals (a) without and (b) with the 12 T HMF, respectively. The HMF direction B is parallel to the axis of the cylinder.