Magnetic Phase Transition and Magnetocaloric Effect in Ternary Er2Ni2Ga Compound

The crystal structure, magnetism, and magnetocaloric effect (MCE) were investigated in ternary Er
₂
Ni
₂
Ga compound. The Er
₂
Ni
₂
Ga belongs to W
₂
B
₂
Co-type structure (orthorhombic, space group Immm). The magnetization measurements indicate that Er
₂
Ni
₂
Ga suffers a field-induced metamagnetic transition (antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic) below Néel temperature (TN) of 7.1 K. Inverse MCE occurs with magnetic field change (ΔH) lower than 0-30 kOe and at low temperatures, whereas normal reversible MCE happens with higher ΔH. The calculated -ASM (magnetic entropy change) has a peak value of 12.93 J/kg K (~9 K) with refrigerant capacity value of 265 J/kg (5-30 K) for Er
₂
Ni
₂
Ga under ΔH of 0-70 kOe.