Comparative studies of magnetic and magnetocaloric properties in amorphous Gd0.67Y0.33 and Gd0.67Zr0.33 films

Abstract

Abstract Amorphous Gd 0.67 × 0.3 (X=Y, Zr) films were grown by RF sputtering and their magnetic and magnetocaloric properties were studied. The magnetic properties were found to be improved in case of Gd 0.67 Y 0.33 with respect to Gd 0.67 Zr 0.33, in which the Curie temperature, magnetization and spin wave stiffness were higher for Gd 0.67 Y 0.33 , which we attribute to its larger Gd-Gd distance. The temperature dependence of magnetic entropy change (−ΔS M ) was calculated from the isothermal magnetization. Under a magnetic field change of 3 T, (−ΔS M ) were found to be 2.14 and 1.12 J/kg K, with corresponding relative cooling power (RCP) of 198.86 and 113.2 J/kg, for Gd 0.67 Y 0.33 and Gd 0.67 Zr 0.33 , respectively. The larger magnetocaloric properties for Gd 0.67 Y 0.33 are attributed to its higher magnetization.