Magnetocaloric Materials for Magnetic Refrigeration and Cryogenic Cooling
This research community develops magnetic materials that change temperature when exposed to a changing magnetic field, a process used to build solid-state refrigerators that operate without compressors or volatile refrigerants.
The work centers on the magnetocaloric effect, specifically in lanthanum manganites, rare-earth intermetallics, and perovskite oxides. Researchers investigate phase transitions, critical behavior, and structural properties to optimize cooling performance at specific temperature ranges. Key applications include room-temperature refrigeration, cryogenic cooling for liquid helium systems, and hydrogen liquefaction. Methods involve doping, substitution, and the synthesis of thin films and alloys, with a strong focus on gadolinium, manganese, and lanthanum-based compounds to achieve large magnetocaloric responses.
The community is most prominent in research on Lanthanum, where it constitutes 1.7% of all tracked Lanthanum papers, and Helium, where it accounts for 0.6% of Helium research. It also represents 0.6% of Gadolinium research.
The community comprises 7,890 papers, primarily published in the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, and Journal of Applied Physics.
Recent work includes refrigeration down to 0.16 K using frustrated magnets, sub-zero Celsius elastocaloric cooling, and the development of zero-thermal-expansion Laves phase compounds.