Ferromagnetic resonance was used to study the influence of temperature and film thickness on magnetic properties of Ni–Mn–Ga films deposited on single crystal MgO(001) substrates. It has been shown that depending on the film thickness and preparation condition, three configurations of magnetic anisotropy can be realized in these films. The temperature dependence of the anisotropy field is determined.

Magnetic shape memory alloys are under intensive investigation due to their unusual physical properties, such as magnetic shape memory effect, magnetic field induced superelasticity, direct and inverse magnetocaloric effect etc., promising for novel applications. One of the intriguing properties of these materials in a single phase state is a giant magnetoresistance. Here we report the remarkable results about the magnetoresistive properties of epitaxial films of Ni52.3Mn26.8Ga20.9 magnetic shape memory alloy in the temperature range of 100–370 K, well below the martensitic transformation temperature. It was found that the formation of non-collinear magnetic structure due to a nanotwinning of the film results in electron scattering on such a structure and noticeable negative magnetoresistance in the entire investigated temperature range.

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Magneto-structural properties of films of diluted ferromagnetic alloys Ni x Cu 1−x in the concentration range 0.7 < x < 1.0 are studied experimentally. Films deposited by magnetron sputtering show partial phase separation, as evidenced by structural analysis and ferromagnetic resonance measurements. The phase diagram of the Ni x Cu 1−x bulk system is obtained using numerical theoretical analysis of the electronic structure, taking into account the inter-atomic exchange interactions. The results confirm the experimentally found partial phase separation, explain it as magnetic in origin, and indicate an additional metastable region connected with the ferromagnetic transition in the system.