Unique magnetostriction of FePd attributable to twinning.

FePd exhibits an anomalously large magnetostriction of ~400 ppm at room temperature as well as linear, isotropic, and hysteresis free magnetization behavior. This near perfectly reversible magnetic response is attributable to the presence of a large number of premartensitic magnetoelastic twin clusters present in the system made possible through the elastic softening that occurs near a martensitic transformation temperature of 252 K. It is proposed that the twin clusters in the material reduce both internal elastic and magnetic energy, causing the elastic and magnetic behavior of the material to be intimately linked.