Large exchange bias in polycrystalline ribbons of Ni56Mn21Al22Si1

Abstract Large exchange bias (EB) effect is demonstrated in a Ni 56 Mn 21 Al 22 Si 1 polycrystalline ribbon that shows spin-glass behaviour below 68 K and superparamagnetic (SPM) behaviour above this temperature. The average magnetic moment μ of the SPM clusters is estimated to be considerably smaller than that reported for other Heusler alloy systems that demonstrate spin glass behaviour and EB effect. The M – H loops measured in field-cooled (FC) conditions show significant asymmetry that is observed to be strongly field and temperature dependant. The maximum EB field ( H EB ~2.6 kOe at 20 kOe and 2 K) is much larger than that reported for any metallic alloy system with conventional EB effect. The dependence of H EB on temperature shows an exponential decrease. An approach towards enhancement of the EB effect in this conventional EB system can be realized via manipulation of SPM or superferromagnetic (SFM) cluster size with variation of cooling magnetic field.