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Origin and tuning of the magnetocaloric effect in the magnetic refrigerant Mn1.1Fe0.9(P0.8Ge0.2)

Danmin Liu, Ming Yue, Jiuxing Zhang, T. M. McQueen, Jeffrey W. Lynn, Xiaolu Wang, Ying Chen, Jiying Li, R. J. Cava, Xubo Liu, Zaven Altounian, and Q. Huang
Phys. Rev. B 79, 014435 – Published 26 January 2009
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Abstract

Neutron-diffraction and magnetization measurements have been carried out on a series of samples of the magnetorefrigerant Mn1+yFe1yP1xGex. The data reveal that the ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases correspond to two very distinct crystal structures, with the magnetic-entropy change as a function of magnetic field or temperature being directly controlled by the phase fraction of this first-order transition. By tuning the physical properties of this system we have achieved a magnetic-entropy change [magnetocaloric effect (MCE)] for the composition Mn1.1Fe0.9P0.80Ge0.20 that has a similar shape for both increasing and decreasing field, with the maximum MCE exceeding 74J/kgK—substantially higher than the previous record. The diffraction results also reveal that there is a substantial variation in the Ge content in the samples which causes a distribution of transition temperatures that reduces the MCE. It therefore should be possible to improve the MCE to exceed 100J/kgK under optimal conditions.

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  • Received 20 July 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.79.014435

©2009 American Physical Society

Synopsis

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Cooling with magnets

Published 28 January 2009

Scientists identify the microscopic origin of a record magnetocaloric effect in Mn1+yFe1y(P1xGex).

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Authors & Affiliations

Danmin Liu1,2, Ming Yue1, Jiuxing Zhang1, T. M. McQueen3, Jeffrey W. Lynn2,*, Xiaolu Wang1, Ying Chen2,4, Jiying Li2,4, R. J. Cava3, Xubo Liu5, Zaven Altounian5, and Q. Huang2

  • 1Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Technology, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100022, China
  • 2NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
  • 3Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
  • 4Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
  • 5Department of Physics and Center for the Physics of Materials, McGill University, 3600 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2T8

  • *Corresponding author. jeff.lynn@nist.gov

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Issue

Vol. 79, Iss. 1 — 1 January 2009

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