Intrinsic Position Sensing of a Ni-Mn-Ga Microactuator

This paper presents an investigation of the intrinsic magnetoresistance of a ferromagnetic shape memory alloy (FSMA) microactuator for position sensing. The microactuator is designed as a double-beam cantilever of a polycrystalline Ni-Mn-Ga thin film, which exhibits both, a martensitic transformation in the temperature range 333–359 K and a ferromagnetic transition at about 370 K. The microactuator is placed in the inhomogeneous magnetic field of a miniature Nd-Fe-B magnet causing a mixed thermo-magneto-resistance effect upon actuation. The maximum in-plane magnetic field is about 0.38 Tesla. In this case, the maximum magnetoresistance (MR) is 0.19%.