Magnetocaloric Properties and Critical Behaviour of the Sm₂Ni₁₇ Compound

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed study in the critical region around the Curie temperature to determine the universality class of the Sm2Ni17 intermetallic compound. The magnetocaloric effect has been studied on the basis of experimental measurements of magnetization. Maxwell’s relation and a phenomenological model are employed to find the change in magnetic entropy. The compound Sm2Ni17 presents a variation in entropy with a moderate maximum and a wide range of operating temperatures. Numerous approaches have been used to explore the spontaneous magnetization behaviour and inverse of the susceptibility, including the modified Arrott technique, the Kouvel–Fisher approach, and the fitting of the critical isotherm. The scaling hypothesis has been used to confirm the validity and interdependence of the critical exponents associated with these phenomena.

Keywords

• intermetallics
• magnetic phase transition
• magnetocaloric effect
• phenomenological model
• universality class