The influence of ferrimagnetic structure on magnetocaloric effect in Dy2Fe10Al7 compound

This paper presents the study of the magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect (MCE) of the rare-earth ferrimagnetic Dy2Fe10Al7 compound. The field and temperature dependencies of the magnetization in the temperature range 4.2–300 K were studied in magnetic fields up to 100 kOe. The MCE was studied by direct method in magnetic fields up to 70 kOe. It was established that the sign of the MCE changes from positive to negative near the compensation temperature. It was shown from the obtained experimental results and the theoretical estimations that the temperature and field dependencies of the MCE in rare-earth ferrimagnet differ from those in ferromagnetic materials. The effective field (Heff2) determined from the values of the MCE near to the compensation temperature are in a good agreement with those reported earlier. [Display omitted] •The magnetization, susceptibility, and MCE in Dy2Fe10Al7 were investigated.•The MCE was studied by direct methods.•It is shown that the exchange field value can be estimated from the MCE data.•The influence of ferrimagnetic structure on magnetocaloric effect in Dy2Fe10Al7 compound.