Strain-tuning of the magnetocaloric transition temperature in model FeRh films

The chemically ordered B2 phase of equiatomic FeRh is known to absorb or evolve a significant latent heat as it traverses its first-order phase transition in response to thermal, magnetic, and mechanical drivers. This attribute makes FeRh an ideal magnetocaloric material testbed for investigation of relationships between the crystalline lattice and the magnetic spins, which are especially experimentally accessible in thin films. In this work, epitaxial FeRh films of nominal 30 nm and 50 nm thicknesses with out-of-plane c-axis orientation were sputter-deposited at high temperature onto (0 0 1)-MgO or (0 0 0 1)-Al2O3 substrates and capped with Al, Au, Cr, or W after in situ annealing at 973 K to promote CsCl-type chemical order. In this manner a controlled strain state was invoked. Experimental results derived from laboratory and synchrotron x-ray diffraction combined with magnetometry indicate that the antiferromagnetic (AF)—ferromagnetic (FM) magnetostructural phase transformation in these films may be tuned over an ~50° range (373 K–425 K) through variation in the c/a ratio derived from lattice strain delivered by the substrate and the capping layers. These results supply fundamental information that might be used to engineer the magnetocaloric working material in new system designs by introducing targeted values of passive strain to the system

Coupled magnetic, structural, and electronic phase transitions in FeRh

The B2-ordered intermetallic magnetic compound FeRh exhibits a thermodynamically first-order phase transition in the vicinity of room temperature that makes it a highly intriguing subject for both fundamental and applied study. On heating through the transition the magnetic character changes from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic order with an accompanying large increase in the electrical conductivity and an abrupt expansion in the lattice structure. Accompanying these effects is a very large entropy change comprising both magnetic and lattice contributions. As well as being driven by temperature, these coupled phase transitions may be driven by the application or removal of a magnetic field, or, because of the extremely strong lattice-spin interactions present in this compound, by an applied strain (pressure), and combinations thereof. In addition to these driving factors, the transition temperature can also be tuned by both compositional and finite size effects. Building from historical work on bulk forms of FeRh, the effects of extrinsic and intrinsic parameter variation on the coupled magnetic, structural, and electronic phase transitions are reviewed here, with special attention directed to phenomena that manifest themselves in thin films. Overall, the rich manner in which the physical properties of FeRh change at the phase transition has potential for a wide range of technological applications in areas such as thermally-assisted magnetic recording media, CFC-free magnetic cooling, sensors for energy management, and novel spintronic devices