Magnetocaloric Effect in Ni-Mn-based Heusler Alloys

Magnetic cooling that utilizes magnetocaloric effect has become a competitive technology in the field of refrigeration technique. This is an environment-friendly technology as it does not require any gaseous substances contrary to the conventional vapor-compression/expansion refrigeration technique. The performance of a magnetic refrigerator mainly depends on the magnetocaloric property of the substance. For the potential application of this technology, low-cost and highly efficient magnetocaloric materials are in great need as magnetic refrigerants. Therefore, it has become necessary to find materials that show a large/giant magnetocaloric effect. Heusler alloys are a class of important material that shows a large magnetocaloric effect and has proven their potential as magnetocaloric materials. This book provides a brief overview of magnetocaloric effect in Ni-Mn-based Heusler alloys which may help researchers in this field. The fundamentals of magnetocaloric effect and its measurement methods along with sample preparation have also been discussed in this book which may be useful for beginners in this field.

Autorentext

The author is presently Assistant Professor in Physics, at Gokhale Memorial Girls College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He obtained M. Sc. (Physics) and Ph. D (Physics) from the University of Calcutta. He has more than 12 years of research experience in this field and also published many research papers in various international journals.