Theory of giant-caloric effects in multiferroic materials.

A generalized thermodynamic theory of giant-caloric effects in coupled multiferroic solids is introduced. The generalized theory allows analytical derivation of any caloric effect in solids displaying any type of cross coupling. In the particular cases of the non-coupled ferroic materials, the theory reproduces the well-known formulae describing magnetocaloric, electrocaloric or elastocaloric effects. This work facilitates adequate modeling tools and analytical relations capable of predicting caloric effects in complex coupled multiferroic materials, which is very beneficial to future developments in solid-state cooling technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]