Phase field modeling of microstructure evolution and magnetic phase transitions in alloys
Phys. Rev. B 114, 074415 – Published 10 August, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/sjrt-q499
Abstract
The -type Laves phase system is widely studied for a magnetochemical phase diagram, negative thermal expansion, and magnetocaloric effect. In this work, we develop a phase field model to theoretically investigate microstructure evolution and magnetic phase transitions in pseudobinary alloys. Our simulations successfully capture the complex magnetic phase transitions within the system, including ferromagnetic (FM)-to-paramagnetic, ferromagnetic-to-antiferromagnetic (AFM), and antiferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic phase transitions. The phase diagram is obtained by the simulated magnetization-temperature curves and a triple point is identified at approximately and , which shows excellent agreement with experimental data. Microstructure simulations reveal that the FM state forms a cuboidal-like domain pattern, while the AFM state exhibits a single domain. Moreover, a study of strain effects on reveals that compressive strain suppresses the ferromagnetic state, and the FM-AFM phase transition temperature decreases by approximately 27 K per 0.1% increase in compressive strain, which is in accordance with experimental observations. This work provides theoretical insights into the magnetoelastic coupling in Laves phase alloys.