Multifunctional Phenomena in Rare-Earth Intermetallic Compounds With a Laves Phase Structure: Giant Magnetostriction and Magnetocaloric Effect

We report on the magnetic and thermal properties [magnetization, specific heat, thermal expansion, magnetostriction, and magnetocaloric effect (MCE)] for the three multicomponent systems Tb
_x
Dy
_y
Gd
_z
Co
₂
, Tb
_x
Dy
_y
Ho
_z
(Co, Fe)
₂
, and Tb
_x
Dy
_y
Er
_z
(Co, Fe)
₂
(x + y + z = 1). We show that for Tb
_x
Dy
_y
R
_z
Co
₂
, the Curie temperatures, TC (which ranged from 130 to 300 K), and order of the phase transition (first or second order) could be controlled by composition. The highest MCE values (the adiabatic temperature change ΔT
_ad
= 2.2-2.3 K at μ
₀
ΔH = 1.8 T) were observed for the compounds exhibiting the transitions of the first order. Giant volume magnetostriction of 1500-2000 and 500-600 ppm is demonstrated at a field of μ
₀
H = 10 and 1.2 T, respectively. Structural and magnetic entropy contributions to the total isothermal entropy change are estimated for Tb
_x
Dy
_y
R
_z
Co
₂
. Regular recurrence and/or change of the physical properties across the varied composition of the compounds allows us to find the materials with desired magnetic characteristics, such as T
_C
, MCE, and magnetostriction, to use them in practice.