Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect in TmZnAl and TmAgAl compounds.

The magnetic and magnetocaloric properties in the equiatomic intermetallic compounds of TmZnAl and TmAgAl have been investigated. The compounds undergo a second order magnetic transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic state around its own Curie temperatures T C ∼2.8 K and 3.3 K for TmZnAl and TmAgAl, respectively. A considerable reversible magnetocaloric effect (MCE) was observed at low temperature. For a magnetic field change of 7 T, the maximum values of magnetic entropy change (−Δ S M max ) and relative cooling power ( RCP ) are 11.8 J/kg K and 289 J/kg for TmZnAl, respectively, and the corresponding values for TmAgAl are 14.1 J/kg K and 315 J/kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]