Magnetocaloric effect in ferromagnetic 1/1 quasicrystal approximants Au64Al22R14 (R = Gd, Tb, and Dy)

We report the magnetocaloric effect of the Tsai-type 1/1 quasicrystal approximants Au64Al22R14 (R = Gd, Tb, and Dy) with the space group of Im 3 . These approximants with the electron-per-atom (e/a) ratio of 1.72 exhibit a ferromagnetic transition in bulk at the Curie temperatures of 27, 15, and 9.5 K for R = Gd, Tb, and Dy, respectively, as confirmed by both magnetic susceptibility and specific heat measurements. The magnetic entropy change (ΔSM) of the materials for a field change of 7 T are 6.3, 4.4, and 4.8 J/K mol-R for R = Gd, Tb, and Dy, respectively. Other parameters related to the magnetocaloric effect, the adiabatic temperature change (ΔTad) and the relative cooling power (RCP) are also evaluated. We also discuss the obtained magnetocaloric effect of the approximants with relation to the recently reported unique magnetic order formed on the icosahedral clusters, a building unit of the Tsai-type 1/1 quasicrystal approximants.