metals Review Neutron Scattering as a Powerful Tool to Investigate Magnetic Shape Memory Alloys: A Review Natalia A. Río-López 1, Patricia Lázpita 1,2, Daniel Salazar 1, Viktor I. Petrenko 1,3 , Fernando Plazaola 2 , Volodymyr Chernenko 1,2,3 and Jose M. Porro 1,3,* 1 BCMaterials, Basque Center for Materials, Applications & Nanostructures, 48940 Leioa, Spain;
[email protected] (N.A.R.-L.);
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[email protected] Abstract: Magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMAs) are an interesting class of smart materials characterized by undergoing macroscopic deformations upon the application of a pertinent stimulus: temperature, stress and/or external magnetic fields. Since the deformation is rapid and contactless, these materials are being extensively investigated for a plethora of applications, such as sensors and actuators for the medical, automotive and space industries, energy harvesting and damping devices, among others. These materials also exhibit a giant magnetocaloric effect, whereby they are very promising for magnetic refrigeration. The applications in which they can be used are extremely dependent on the material properties, which are, in turn, greatly conditioned by the structure, atomic ordering and magnetism of a material. Particularly, exploring the material structure Citation: Río-López, N.A.; Lázpita, is essential in order to push forward the current application limitations of the MSMAs.