Phase separation and direct magnetocaloric effect in La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 manganite

A series of phase separated La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 manganite samples with different grain sizes were studied by ac susceptibility, direct magnetocaloric effect (triangle T), and heat capacity measurements. The ac susceptibility shows that fractions of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases and consequently the phase separated state can be controlled by means of sintering temperature. Lower sintering temperature leads to a ferromagnetic state, while higher sintering temperature increases antiferromagnetic phase fraction, resulting in a phase separated state. In the phase separated samples, triangle T shows a conventional positive peak near T-C and an anomalous positive peak at lower temperature near T-N. The anomalous positive peak appears at higher magnetic field and is accompanied with thermal hysteresis. It is suggested that the anomalous magnetocaloric behaviors result from phase separation and first order magnetostructural phase transition. This study shows that direct magnetocaloric effect is a useful technique for the study of manganites. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4794179]