Structure, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of RE11Ge8In2 (RE = Gd–Tm)

A new tetragonal Gd11Ge8In2 phase has been obtained by arc-melting and annealing at 800 °C. The structure has been determined and refined from single crystal X-ray diffraction data in the I4/mmm space group with a = 11.2091(6) and c = 16.3994(9) Å. Phases with the RE11Ge8In2 (RE = Gd–Tm) composition were subsequently synthesized and their structures were refined using X-ray powder diffraction methods. Magnetic measurements carried out on RE11Ge8In2 (RE = Gd–Tm) indicated a ferromagnetic ordering in all phases. The magnetocaloric effect in terms of the magnetic entropy change, ΔSmag, was evaluated for the Gd-, Tb- and Tm-containing samples, and the largest |ΔSmag| value of 10.6 J/kg K was obtained for Tm11Ge8In2.

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► Gd5Ge4−xInx (0.25 ≤ x ≤ 2.5) samples were synthesized by arc-melting.
► New RE11Ge8In2 (RE = Gd–Tm) phases (Ho11Ge10-type structure) were discovered.
► RE11Ge8In2 phases undergo ferromagnetic transitions between 10 and 84 K.
► Largest magnetic entropy change, |ΔSmag| = 10.6 J/kg K is observed for Tm11Ge8In2.