Characterization of the Magnetocaloric Effect in RMn6Sn6 including High Entropy Alloys

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetocaloric effect in RMn6Sn6 kagome magnets, including high-entropy alloys, revealing how magnetic order and transitions influence MCE and providing guidelines for enhancing it in tunable magnetic materials.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive analysis of the magnetocaloric effect in RMn6Sn6 compounds and high-entropy alloys, highlighting factors that can enhance MCE in materials with low rare-earth content.

Findings

Magnetic order type affects the magnitude of MCE.

Metamagnetic transitions can enhance the magnetocaloric effect.

High-entropy alloys exhibit tunable MCE properties.

Abstract

We present a comprehensive study of the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in a family of kagome magnets with formula RMn6Sn6 (R=Tb, Ho, Er, and Lu). These materials have a small rare-earth content and tunable magnetic ordering, hence they provide a venue to study the fundamentals of the MCE. We examine the effect of different types of order (ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic) and the presence of a metamagnetic transition on the MCE. We extend the study to high-entropy rare-earth alloys of the family. Our results suggest several guidelines for enhancing the MCE in tunable magnetic materials with a small rare-earth content.