The influence of a minority magnetic phase on the field dependence of the magnetocaloric effect

The field dependence of the magnetic entropy change can be used to detect the existence of a minority magnetic phase without experimentally reaching its Curie temperature. In this work, we present results that could suggest a breakdown of the recently proposed universal behaviour of the magnetocaloric effect in materials with a second-order magnetic phase transition in some La-containing samples. The behaviour of the outlier La-containing materials is an evidence of the existence of minority phases, preventing the construction of the universal curve with a single reference temperature. However, the use of two reference temperatures avoids this difficulty and allows applying the universal curve for practical purposes even with the presence of the minority phase. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.