Plastic-strain-induced magnetocaloric effect of Pt3Fe ordered alloy

We report a magnetocaloric effect of a plastically strained Pt3Fe antiferromagnet, in which ferromagnetism is induced due to the changes in the atomic arrangement around the {110} glide plane. The magnetic entropy change after the application of magnetic field increases with increasing applied plastic strain and shows a peak value of ∼0.1 J/K kg for an applied field of 50 kOe around the Néel temperature of 170 K. The magnetic entropy change can be due to the magnetization reversal of Fe magnetic moments in ferromagnetic domains formed around the {110} glide planes, and the peak temperature is influenced by the magnetic interaction between ferromagnetic domains and antiferromagnetic matrix. These observations suggest that a Pt3Fe chemically ordered alloy is a unique type of antiferromagnets in which the magnetocaloric effect can be induced and controlled by applied plastic strain.