Large magnetocaloric effect in Laves phase TbMn1.8Fe0.2 compound over a wide temperature range

Abstract: The magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect of C15 Laves phase TbMn1.8Fe0.2 were studied by magnetization and heat capacity measurements. The compound undergoes a second-order magnetic Tb–Tb sublattice ordering transition at its Curie temperature T C ∼80K, and a Fe–Fe ordering transition at ∼230K. A large magnetocaloric effect was observed around Tb–Tb ordering temperature with no obvious thermal and magnetic hysteresis loss. The maximum value of magnetic entropy change reaches 9.48Jkg−1 K−1 for a magnetic field change ΔH =5T. The corresponding maximum adiabatic temperature change is evaluated to be 3.5K with a wide effective temperature range. The obtained relative cooling power reaches 235, 607, and 869Jkg−1 for ΔH =2, 5 and 7T, respectively. These values indicate that TbMn1.8Fe0.2 could be a promising candidate for magnetic refrigeration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]