Magnetism and Structure in Functional Materials

Magnetism and Structure in Functional Materials addresses three distinct but related topics: (i) magnetoelastic materials such as magnetic martensites and magnetic shape memory alloys, (ii) the magnetocaloric effect related to magnetostructural transitions, and (iii) colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) and related manganites. The goal is to identify common underlying principles in these classes of materials that are relevant for optimizing various functionalities. The emergence of apparently different magnetic/structural phenomena in disparate classes of materials clearly points to a need for common concepts in order to achieve a broader understanding of the interplay between magnetism and structure in this general class of new functional materials exhibiting ever more complex microstructure and function. The topic is interdisciplinary in nature and the contributors correspondingly include physicists, materials scientists and engineers. Likewise the book will appeal to scientists from all these areas. TOC:Complex Functional Materials.- Spin, Charge, and Lattice Coupling in Multiferroic Materials.- Disorder in Magnetic and Structural Transitions: Pretransitional Phenomena and Kinetics.- Huge Magnetoresistance in Association with Strong Magnetoelastic Effects.- Interplay of Spin, Charge and Lattice in CMR Manganites and HTSC Cuprates.- Neutron Scattering Studies of Anomalous Phonon Behavior in Functional Materials.- The Structures and Transformation Mechanism in the Ferromagnetic Shape Memory Alloy Ni2MnGa.- Imaging Techniques in Magnetoelastic Materials.- A Way to Search for Multiferroic Materials with "Unlikely" Combinations of Physical Properties.- Invar and Anti-Invar: Magnetovolume Effects in Fe-Based Alloys Revisited.- Magnetocaloric Effect Associated with Magneto-structural Transitions.- Entropy Change and Magnetocaloric Effect in Magnetostructural Transformations.- Functional Magneto-structural Materials: Summary and Perspectives.