Spin-glass behavior and magnetocaloric effect in Tb-based bulk metallic glass

A noncollinear-ferromagnetic spin-glass-like state was observed in Tb(55)Co(20)Al(25) bulk metallic glass due to the strong random magnetic anisotropy. Associated with this behavior, we observed a comparatively large magnetic entropy change (Delta S(m) is 9.75 J K(-1) kg(-1)) in a field change of 7 T and a correspondingly high value of the magnetic refrigeration capacity ( RC is 540 J kg(-1)) with almost no hysteresis loss in the vicinity of the so-called Curie temperature. This opens the possibility of using this material for magnetic cooling purposes. Crown Copyright (c) 2008 Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.