Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect of GdGa compound

Polycrystalline GdGa compound was prepared by arc-melting method. X-ray powder diffraction reveals that GdGa crystallizes in the CrB-type structure. The Curie temperature of the compound is 183 K. A distinct peak associated with spin reorientation transition was shown around 100 K on the magnetization versus temperature curve measured in a field of 0.05 T. Isothermal magnetic entropy change (|ΔSM|) was estimated based on the magnetization isotherms. The maximum value of |ΔSM| is 4.81 J kg−1 K−1 under the applied field changing from 0 T to 5.0 T. The relative cooling power (RCP(S)) of GdGa compound is about 576 J kg−1 under an applied field change of 5 T. The specific heat of the compound has been estimated within the framework of Debye and mean field approximations to evaluate the adiabatic temperature change (ΔTad).