Exchange bias behavior and magnetocaloric effect in Ni2In-type Mn7Sn4 alloy

In this work, the exchange bias behavior and magnetocaloric effect have been studied in Mn7Sn4 alloy. The X-ray powder diffraction pattern recorded at room temperature indicates that the sample crystallizes in a single phase with Ni2In-type hexagonal structure (space group P63/mmc). The maximum magnetic entropy change value across paramagnetic/ferrimagnetic transition is about 3.3 Jkg−1K−1 under the magnetic field change of μ0ΔH=0-5T. With further cooling, the reentrant spin-glass-like state is obtained below 150 K, for which the exchange bias effect has been observed. The exchange bias field is ∼7.8 mT and ∼6.7 mT at T=10K when the cooling field is μ0HCF=0.1T and 0.5 T, respectively. The magnetic behavior and the origin of exchange bias in Mn7Sn4 are discussed.