Magnetic/structural diagram, chemical composition-dependent magnetocaloric effect in self-doped antipervoskite compounds Sn1−xCMn3+x (0≤x≤0.40)

Abstract

The effects of Mn substitutions on the crystal structure, magnetic properties, and magnetocaloric effect (MCE) of antiperovskite Sn1−xCMn3+x (0≤x≤0.40) have been investigated detailedly. Both the Curie temperature (TC) and the magnetizations at 40kOe decrease with increasing x firstly for x≤0.10, and then increase with increasing x further. The type of magnetic transition changes from first-order to second-order around x=0.10 with increasing x. Chemical composition-dependent MCE is also studied around TC. With increasing x, the maximal magnetic entropy changes decrease and the magnetic phase transitions broaden. Accordingly, the relative cooling power (RCP) increases with increasing x, reaching the largest values of ∼0.56J/cm3 (∼75J/kg) and ∼1.66J/cm3 (∼221J/kg) with the magnetic changes of 20kOe and 48kOe, respectively. Considering the large RCP, inexpensive, and innoxious raw materials, these serial samples Sn1−xCMn3+x are suggested to be potential room-temperature magnetic refrigerant materials.