Observation of Griffiths-like phase in the quaternary Heusler compound NiFeTiSn.

The quaternary Heusler compound NiFeTiSn can be considered to be derived from the exotic pseudogap-compound FeTiSn by the replacement of one Fe atom by Ni. In contrast to FeTiSn, which shows a disorder induced ferromagnetic phase, the ground state of NiFeTiSn is antiferromagnetic with the signature of spin canting. Interestingly, NiFeTiSn shows a Griffiths-like phase characterized by isolated ferromagnetic clusters before attaining the antiferromagnetic state.

Transport properties of Heusler compounds and alloys.

Heusler compounds are a large group of intermetallic compositions with versatile material properties. In recent times, they are found to be important for their practical applications in the fields of spintronics and shape memory effect. Interestingly, their physical properties can be easily tuned by varying the valence electron concentration through proper doping and substitution.