Giant low field magnetocaloric effect in soft ferromagnetic ErRuSi

摘要

The magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of the intermetallic compound ErRuSi have been investigated. The compound shows ferromagnetic ordering with Curie temperature of 8 K. The magnetic transition is found to be first order in nature. The maximum entropy change and refrigerant capacity are found to be 21.2 J/kg K and 416 J/kg for a field change of 50 kOe. The low field (20 kOe) entropy change is also found to be quite large (15.2 J/kg K). Additionally, the compound shows very little thermal and field hysteresis, fulfilling the required condition for a good magnetic refrigerant in the low temperature regime.