Magnetostructural phase transitions and magnetocaloric effect in Tb-Dy-Ho-Co-Al alloys with a Laves phase structure

The influence of simultaneous substitution within the rare earth (R) and Co sublattices on the structural, magnetic, and magnetocaloric properties of the Laves phase RCo2-type compounds is studied. Main attention is devoted to the studies of the magnetostructural phase transitions and the transition types with respect to the alloy composition. Multicomponent alloys Tb-x(Dy0.5Ho0.5)(1-x)Co-2 and Tb-x(Dy0.5Ho0.5)(1-x)Co1.75Al0.25 were prepared with the use of high purity metals. Majority of the Tb-x(Dy0.5Ho0.5)(1-x)Co-2 alloys exhibit magnetic transitions of the first-order type and a large magnetocaloric effect. The substitution of Al for Co in Tb-x(Dy0.5Ho0.5)(1-x)Co-2 increases the Curie temperature (TC) but changes the transition type from first-to the second-order. The discussion of the physical mechanisms behind the observed phenomena is given on the basis of the first principles electronic-structure calculations taking into account both the atomic disorder and the magnetic disorder effects at finite temperatures. The advantage of Al-containing materials is that sufficiently high magnetocaloric effect values are preserved at T> T-C. Published by AIP Publishing.