Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of single Crystal (Nd_0.5Pr_0.5)₂Fe₁₄B

In this work the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of a (Nd_0.5Pr_0.5)₂Fe₁₄B single crystal have been investigated in a wide range of temperatures and magnetic fields. Magnetic phase transition temperatures (spin-reorientation transition (SRT) at T_SR = 73 K and Curie point at T_c = 570 K) were determined together with the values of saturation magnetization Ms and magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants K₁ and K₂. In the vicinity of a spin-reorientation magnetic phase transition, the value of the magnetocaloric effect was determined as an isothermal magnetic entropy change (DSM). The universal curve of ΔS´(ʘ) around T_SR under various magnetic field changes has been constructed by using a phenomenological procedure. It is found that this approach is applicable to materials with a second-order spin-reorientation phase transition.