Anisotropy-enhanced giant reversible rotating magnetocaloric effect in HoMn2O5 single crystals

Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of HoMn2O5 single crystals were investigated. HoMn2O5 undergoes a large conventional magnetocaloric effect around 10K. The magnetocaloric effect was found to present a giant anisotropy. Consequently, a large magnetocaloric effect (Delta S-R,S-max = 12.43 J/kg K for 7 T) can be obtained simply by rotating the single crystal HoMn2O5 within the cb plane in constant magnetic field instead of moving it in and out of the magnetic field zone. This can open the way for the implementation of compact, simplified, and efficient rotary magnetic refrigerators. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.