Giant reversible anisotropic magnetocaloric effect in an antiferromagnetic EuFe2As2 single crystal

Abstract

Here, we report the characterization of a giant reversible anisotropic magnetocaloric effect in a EuFe2As2 single crystal. The magnetic properties of EuFe2As2 single crystals are quite interesting; they display a small magnetic hysteresis, anisotropy, and a first-order magnetic phase transition. The maximum magnetic entropy change in in-plane magnetic-field direction was 14.6 J/kg K around 20 K and out-of-plane was 10.3 J/kg K around 20 K as a result of changing the magnetic field from 0 to 5 T. These results suggest the possibility of using EuFe2As2 single crystals in magnetic refrigeration applications. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3579254]