Theoretical investigation of crystalline electric field influence on the magnetocaloric effect in PrRh2

Abstract

We investigate the magnetocaloric effect in the intermetallic ferromagnetic PrRh2 compound in which two possible crystalline electrical field level schemes were reported, from inelastic neutron scattering. The levels schemes parameters (set A and set B) were considered in our model Hamiltonian and anomalous effect were predicted in the isothermal entropy variation and in adiabatic temperature change magnetocaloric quantities. These anomalies were physically understood. The set A leads to a strong quenching in the Pr3+ magnetic moment and the set B leads to a first order magnetic phase transition.