Field dependence of magnetic entropy change: Whence comes an intercept?

The magnetic field-induced entropy change in a ferromagnet undergoing a second-order phase transition at the Curie point is maximum near that point. The maximum magnetic entropy change, (-Delta S)(max), is demonstrated to contain, besides the usual term in H-2/3, a small negative term independent of H. Spatial inhomogeneity of real ferromagnetic materials is shown to be the origin of the off-set term, whose magnitude proves proportional to the width of the distribution of local Curie points. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.