Structure, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of polycrystalline Er₃AlC compound

The development of magnetic materials with large magnetocaloric effects for solid state refrigeration technology is receiving increasing attention. In this work, the crystal structure, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of polycrystalline Er₃AlC compound are investigated. Powder X-ray diffraction indicate that Er₃AlC crystallizes in the inverse perovskite structure, belonging to the space group Pm3¯m(2 2 1). The polycrystalline sample exhibits two successive magnetic transitions: antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic below 2 K and ferromagnetic–paramagnetic transition around 4.1 K. The value of the maximum magnetic entropy changes are 13.9 J/kg K and 30.5 J/kg K under the field changes of 0–2 T and 0–5 T, respectively. The large magnetic entropy change under low fields makes Er₃AlC compound a potential candidate for cryogenic magnetic refrigeration.