The influence of gallium on magnetocaloric effect in Gd60Tb40 alloys

Abstract The influences of gallium substitution for terbium in Gd 60 Tb 40 on the phase formation, Curie temperature and magnetic entropy change have been investigated. A series of Gd 60 Tb 40− x Ga x with x =0, 1, 3 and 5 alloys were prepared by arc-melting method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals that a small amount of Ga substitution for terbium in Gd 60 Tb 40 can form the solid solution (Gd, Tb). The Curie temperature ( T c ) increases from 270 K for Gd 60 Tb 40 to 297 K for Gd 60 Tb 37 Ga 3 , while the maximum magnetic entropy changes Δ S M, max decreases from 5.15 J/K kg for Gd 60 Tb 40 to 3.32 J/K kg for Gd 60 Tb 37 Ga 3 with increasing the Ga content.