Strongly anisotropic magnetocaloric effect in a dipolar magnet LiGdF4_4

We report the detailed study of the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in a dipolar-Heisenberg magnet LiGdF$_4$ using magnetization measurements performed on a single crystal sample. Entropy variation on isothermal demagnetization from the magnetic field up to 3 T is determined in the temperature range 2-10 K for two principal directions of the applied field (parallel and perpendicular to the tetragonal $c$-axis of the crystal). The MCE is found to be highly anisotropic, with the cooling efficiency being up to twice higher at $H\parallel c$. The results are nicely interpreted in the frame of a conventional molecular field approach taking into account considerable anisotropy of the paramagnetic Curie-Weiss temperature. These results are compared to earlier studies of MCE in powder samples of LiGdF$_4$ [T. Numazawa et al., AIP Conf. Proc. 850, 1579 (2006)] as well as with analogous data for other well known magnetocaloric materials. Our findings may open new possibilities to enhance the efficiency of magnetic refrigeration in the liquid helium-4 temperature range.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Magnetic and spectral properties of multi-sublattice oxides SrY2O4:Er3+ and SrEr2O4

SrEr2O4 is a geometrically frustrated magnet which demonstrates rather unusual properties at low temperatures including a coexistence of long- and short-range magnetic order, characterized by two different propagation vectors. In the present work, the effects of crystal fields (CF) in this compound containing four magnetically inequivalent erbium sublattices are investigated experimentally and theoretically. We combine the measurements of the CF levels of the Er3+ ions made on a powder sample of SrEr2O4 using neutron spectroscopy with site-selective optical and electron paramagnetic resonance measurements performed on single crystal samples of the lightly Er-doped nonmagnetic analogue, SrY2O4. Two sets of CF parameters corresponding to the Er3+ ions at the crystallographically inequivalent lattice sites are derived which fit all the available experimental data well, including the magnetization and dc susceptibility data for both lightly doped and concentrated samples.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Microscopic spin Hamiltonian for a dipolar-Heisenberg magnet LiGdF4 from EPR measurements

Low-temperature electron paramagnetic resonance measurements are performed on single crystals of LiY_{1-x}Gd_xF_4 with weak x=0.005 and moderate x=0.05 concentration of Gd ions. Modeling of the experimental spectra allows us to precisely determine microscopic parameters of the spin Hamiltonian of the parent LiGdF4 material, including the nearest-neighbor exchange constant. The obtained parameters are further tested by comparing a strongly anisotropic Curie-Weiss temperature obtained for LiGdF4 in our static magnetization measurements with theoretically computed values. We find a fine balance between principal magnetic interactions in LiGdF4, which results in a hidden magnetic frustration presumably leading to a delayed magnetic ordering and an enhanced magnetocaloric effect at low temperatures.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure