Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties in ferromagnetic PrCu9Sn4 single crystals

Abstract The tetragonal ferromagnetic single crystal P r C u 9 S n 4 is considered to be a material with a strong uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. The paramagnetic Curie temperatures suggest axial ferromagnetic and basal antiferromagnetic interactions. In order to further understand their magnetic behavior, we prepared single crystals of this compound and after characterizing the samples magnetically, we performed a study of the anisotropic features. The magnetic properties were investigated in terms of the Oguchi pair-approximation model considering crystalline electric field anisotropy with tetragonal symmetry. A set of crystal-field and exchange parameters were calculated, which suggest the presence of small antiferromagnetic interactions on the basal plane. Then, from the magnetic equation of state, the conventional Magnetocaloric Effect in the main directions of symmetry was also calculated.