Impact of interfacial magnetism on magnetocaloric properties of thin film heterostructures

Abstract

Polarized neutron reflectometry was used to determine the depth profile of the magnetic moment per Gd atom, mGd, in a Gd(30 nm)/W(5 nm) multilayer. Despite sharp interfaces observed by transmission electron microscopy, mGd is systematically suppressed near the Gd-W interfaces. Because the peak magnetic entropy change is proportional to mGd2/3, this results in a reduction of the maximum achievable magnetocaloric effect in Gd-W heterostructures. By extension, our results suggest that creating materials with Gd-ferromagnet interfaces may increase the mGd relative to the bulk, leading to enhanced magnetocaloric properties.