Fig. 4: The contribution of strain recovery on thermal expansion.

a DSC curves for the ZTE sample during thermal cycling. b Comparative DSC curves of the ZTE sample, MnCoGe, and the WE43 alloy. The MnCoGe phase transformation is characterized by an endothermic process during heating. In contrast, the ZTE sample shows exothermic peaks during both heating and cooling, indicating the different energy transition mechanisms between MnCoGe and ZTE sample. c The volume changes in the Mg unit cell under varying strain conditions along the c-axis. d Temperature-dependent evolution and statistical probabilities of microscopic strain in Mg matrix, with stress applied along the [0001] and [2\(\bar{1}\bar{1}\)0] crystallographic directions. e Comparative analysis of calculated and experimental CTE, demonstrating the major contribution of compressive strain. Source data for (a–e) are provided as a Source data file.