LAUSR

Abstract The magnetic properties and giant magnetic entropy change in gadolinium orthoferrite have been investigated for their potential application as magnetic refrigeration working media. We found GdFeO3 polycrystalline sample exhibits a large magnetic entropy change value (–ΔSM = 50.2 J/kg K at 70 kOe) near the liquid hydrogen temperature, which is much larger than those of other oxide magnetic refrigerators. The large magnetocaloric effect is related to the half-filled 4f electronic state in rare earth-transition oxides. The large values of these parameters, together with negligible hysteresis, suggest that GdFeO3 multiferroic ferrite could be potential materials for magnetic refrigeration in low-temperature region.