Disorder-induced enhancement of magnetism in ball-milled Fe2CrAl alloy

Chemical ordering has crucial influences on the magnetic and other properties of Heusler alloys [1, 2]. Recently, theoretical investigations predict that highly ordered Fe₂CrAl with L2₁ structure exhibits a half-metallic property with spin polarization of 82%[1]. However, other calculations based on experimental lattice parameters show a non-half-metallic property[2]. Additionally, the theoretical calculation based on L2₁ structure gives a rather different magnetic moment from the experiment results[1, 3]. It has also been reported by Luo et al[4] that partial disordering on different sites of this alloy will lead to the enhancement of its magnetic moment. Due to these pending issues and the possibility to modulate the magnetic properties of this alloy by different preparation methods, a systematic investigation about the ball-milled Fe₂CrAl alloy has been carried out. Significant enhancement of the magnetic properties has been achieved in this system.