Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Tb5Si2Sb2

The rare earth intermetallic compound, Tb5Si2Sb2 (orthorhombic Tm5Si2Sb2-type, space group Cmca), has been synthesized and characterized by means of magnetization measurements. This compound orders ferromagnetically at ∼181 K ( T C ) . Using magnetization vs. field data, the isothermal magnetic entropy change ( Δ S M ) has been computed in the vicinity of T C in applied fields up to 5 T. A maximum value of magnetic entropy change ∼4.4 J/kg/K has been achieved for a field change of 5 T close to the magnetic ordering temperature. The magnetocaloric effect in this compound is thus moderate and spread over a broad temperature range of ∼30 K near T C which is useful for Ericsson-cycle magnetic refrigeration.