Characterization of Martensitic Transformations in NiTi(-Cu) with Transport Measurements

Abstract Transport properties can help both characterizing the transformation as well as understanding electronic aspects of the martensitic phase transition. Still, most shape memory research mostly relies on resistivity measurement, even though more and sometimes complementary information can be gained from Hall and Seebeck measurements. Since both are only sparsely used within the shape memory community, this paper aims at introducing Hall and Seebeck effects and their measurement principles. We show how the martensitic transformations in NiTi and NiTi-Cu manifest in different transport measurements and explain how to interpret the results. We hope this manuscript encourages researchers on shape memory materials to utilize transport measurements for improved characterization and understanding of martensitic materials.