  Control of the Neel vector in antiferromagnetic materials is one of the
challenges preventing their use as active device components. Several methods
have been investigated such as exchange bias, electric current, and spin
injection, but little is known about strain-mediated anisotropy. This study of
the antiferromagnetic L10-type MnX alloys MnIr, MnRh, MnNi, MnPd, and MnPt
shows that a small amount of strain effectively rotates the direction of the
Neel vector by 90 degrees for all of the materials. For MnIr, MnRh, MnNi, and
MnPd, the Neel vector rotates within the basal plane. For MnPt, the Neel vector
rotates from out-of-plane to in-plane under tensile strain. The effectiveness
of strain control is quantified by a metric of efficiency and by direct
calculation of the magnetostriction coefficients. The values of the
magnetostriction coefficients are comparable with those from ferromagnetic
materials. These results indicate that strain is a mechanism that can be
exploited for control of the Neel vectors in this family of antiferromagnets.
