Magnetism and magnetocaloric effect in the ternary equiatomic REFeAl (RE = Er and Ho) compounds

Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in ErFeAl and HoFeAl intermetallic compounds have been studied systematically. Both compounds undergo a second order magnetic phase transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic state together with a probable spin reorientation transition at low temperature. A considerable reversible magnetocaloric effect was observed around its own Curie temperatures T-C similar to 55 K and 80 K for ErFeAl and HoFeAl, respectively. For a magnetic field change of 0-7 T, the maximum values of magnetic entropy change (-Delta S-M(max)) are found to be 83 and 9.9 J/kg K for RE = Er and Ho, respectively. The corresponding values of refrigerant capacity (RC) are evaluated to be 384 and 647 J/kg. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.