Magnetostriction of Ni/sub 2/MnGa in low and intermediate temperature phases

The magnetostriction of low and intermediate temperature phases of a single crystal of Ni/sub 2/MnGa alloy is studied. The single crystal was prepared by the Bridgman method. The magnetization and strain measurement, and the thermal analysis is performed using VSM, gauge and DSC method, respectively. The results suggest that the magnetostriction change is caused by phonon softening before the martensitic transformation.