Composition dependence of magnetocaloric effect in Sm1-xSrxMnO3 (x = 0.3-0.5)

Abstract

We investigated magnetic and magnetocaloric properties in Sm1-xSrxMnO3 (x = 0.30-0.5). We report a magnetic field driven first-order metamagnetic transition in the paramagnetic state in x = 0.4 and 0.5 and a second-order transition in x = 0.3. The highest magnetic entropy (-Sm = 6.2 J/kgK for H = 5 T at T = 125 K) that occurs in x = 0.4 is associated with the metamagnetic transition resulting from the field-induced growth and coalescence of ferromagnetic nano clusters preexisting in the paramagnetic state. Our results suggest that manganites with intrinsic nanoscale phase separation can be exploited for magnetic refrigeration.