Researchers in India and France experimentally examined how chemical disorder relates to magnetic response in the NiRuMnGa Heusler alloy. In an October 9 arXiv preprint, the team analyzed powder X-ray diffraction data using a structure selected by first-principles calculations; the refinement indicated B2-type mixing between Ni/Ru and Mn/Ga sites. The paper has not yet undergone peer review.

Magnetic measurements showed field-dependent divergence between zero-field-cooled and field-cooled curves near 48 K. Magnetization remained unsaturated even at 7 tesla, reaching about 0.4 Bohr magnetons per formula unit; AC susceptibility, relaxation and memory measurements were interpreted by the team as consistent with a cluster-glass state. The results connect atomic disorder with exchange interactions in this alloy, but do not test a device or commercial spintronic application. The first page lists researchers at the CRISMAT/CNRS laboratory in Caen, France.