Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect of GdCr2Si2 compound under hydrostatic pressure

• Magnetic and MCE in GdCr2Si2 were studied under high pressures up to 1.58 GPa.
• The magnetic properties of GdCr2Si2 show weak pressure dependence behaviour.
• A large reversible magnetocaloric effect in GdCr2Si2 was observed.
• GdCr2Si2 could be a candidate for low temperature magnetic refrigeration.

The magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of GdCr2Si2 have been studied under hydrostatic pressures up to 1.58 GPa. The temperature and field dependence of magnetization and magnetic entropy change (−ΔSM) show a weak pressure dependence behaviour. The observed large reversible magnetocaloric effect in GdCr2Si2 is related to a field-induced first order magnetic phase transition. For a field change of 5 T, the maximum −ΔSM are 14.1, 15.0, and 14.9 J/kg K under the pressures of 0, 0.69, and 1.58 GPa, respectively, the corresponding relative cooling power are evaluated to be 212, 223, and 226 J/kg.