The magnetocaloric properties of GdScSi and GdScGe

The magnetocaloric properties of the ferromagnetic compounds GdScSi (TC = 354(2) K) and GdScGe (TC = 349(2) K) (tetragonal CeScSi-type structure refined from single crystal diffractometer data, space group I4/mmm) have been determined. The field dependence of the magnetic entropy ΔSm change and of the refrigerant capacity RC have been obtained from magnetization measurements. At the TC Curie temperature, ΔSm for GdScSi and GdScGe is respectively equal to 2.5 and 3.3 J/kgGd K for a magnetic field change of 2 T; the values are comparable to those determined previously for Gd7Pd3 and Gd4Bi3 which exhibit also a TC-temperature higher than room temperature. Both microstructural and the analysis of the magnetocaloric response are used to assess the single phase nature of the samples.