Magnetocaloric effect of an antiferromagnetic ErAl2Ge2 single crystal

The magnetocaloric effect (MCE) is the entropy change in magnetic materials upon application and removal of magnetic fields, providing an alternative path for refrigeration other than conventional gas cycles. In this work, we report a large MCE of the antiferromagnetic compound ErAl2Ge2. The maximum magnetic-entropy change is -19.52 J/kg K under a magnetic field change of 0-70 kOe for isotropic ErAl2Ge2 powder. This value increases to -24.84 J/kg K for a single crystal when the direction of the magnetic field H is parallel to the ab-plane. By using the anisotropy of the MCE of an ErAl2Ge2 crystal, large rotating magnetic-entropy changes of -6.30 J/kg K for H = 20 kOe and -9.03 J/kg K for H = 40 kOe can be obtained. Thus, a single crystal or textured ErAl(2)Ge(2 )may be used as the refrigerant of a rotating magnetic refrigerator, a magnetic cooling system with a simple structure.

Automated summary

The study found a large magnetocaloric effect in the antiferromagnetic compound ErAl2Ge2, with even larger magnetic-entropy changes in single crystal form. By utilizing the anisotropy of the crystal, significant rotating magnetic-entropy changes were observed, indicating potential use of single crystal or textured ErAl2Ge2 in rotating magnetic refrigeration systems.