Magneto-caloric response of the Gd60Co25Al15 metallic glasses

The magneto-caloric response of the Gd60Co25Al15 amorphous alloys was investigated in this work. The amorphous rod exhibits an excellent magneto-caloric effect with a peak value of magnetic entropy change (-Delta S-m(peak)) up to 10 Jkg(-1) K-1 at 125 K under a field of 5 T, and the highest adiabatic temperature change (Delta T-ad = 5.3 K) under the same field among the bulk metallic glasses yet reported in the literature. In contrast, although the thin amorphous ribbons show similar -Delta S-m(peak) and refrigeration capacity to the as-cast rod under 5 T, the higher -Delta S-m(peak) of the ribbons under a lower magnetic field indicates the different magneto-caloric response between the two amorphous alloys. A more detailed investigation has been performed on the field dependence of -Delta S-m(peak) for a deeper insight into the physical characteristics of the amorphous materials. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.