Giant Low-Field Cryogenic Magnetocaloric Effect in a Polycrystalline EuB<sub>4</sub>O<sub>7</sub> Compound
Yuanpeng Wang, Junsen Xiang, Lei Zhang, Jianjian Gong, Wei Li, Zhaojun Mo, Jun Shen
Abstract
To deal with the shortage and high price of helium-3 resources, adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration technology as an alternative to helium-3-based refrigeration technology has received much attention. The magnetism and ultralow-temperature magnetocaloric effect (MCE) of the EuB 4 O 7 compound have been investigated. The results of magnetic and quasi-adiabatic demagnetization measurements suggest the absence of a magnetic order above 0.4 K for EuB 4 O 7 . The dipolar interaction between the nearest-neighbor Eu atoms has a characteristic energy of about 800 mK, which may induce a large MCE. The maximum magnetic entropy change reaches 22.8, 36.2, and 47.6 J·kg –1 K –1 at μ 0 H = 0–10 kOe, 0–20 kOe, and 0–50 kOe, respectively. Measurements by a quasi-adiabatic demagnetization device show that the lowest temperature achievable (289 mK) for polycrystalline EuB 4 O 7 is lower than that (362 mK) for the commercial refrigerant Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 (GGG) single crystals. The hold time is more than 70 min below 700 mK, with an environment temperature of 2 K, proving that EuB 4 O 7 exhibits superior cooling performance.