Low field induced giant anisotropic magnetocaloric effect in DyFeO3 single crystal

We have investigated the anisotropic magnetocaloric effect and the rotating field magnetic entropy in DyFeO₃ single crystal. A giant rotating field entropy change of was achieved from b axis to c axis in bc plane at 5 K for a low field change of 20 kOe. The large anisotropic magnetic entropy change is mainly accounted for the 4f electron of rare-earth Dy^{3 +} ion. The large value of rotating field entropy change, together with large refrigeration capacity and negligible hysteresis, suggests that the multiferroic ferrite DyFeO₃ singlecrystal could be a potential material for anisotropic magnetic refrigeration at low field, which can be realized in the practical application around liquid helium temperature region.

Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2010CB934202, 2011CB921801, and 2012CB933102) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11174351, 11274360, and 11034004).