Electric field tuning of magnetocaloric effect in FeRh0.96Pd0.04/PMN-PT composite near room temperature

Abstract

The first-order magnetic phase transition alloy, FeRh, exhibits a large magnetocaloric effect well above room temperature and works in a limited refrigeration temperature region, which hinders its application to some extent. In the present work, we report a remarkable electric-control magnetocaloric effect in the FeRh0.96Pd0.04/PMN-PT composite near room temperature through strain-mediated magnetoelectric coupling. By applying an electric field of 8 kV/cm, the metamagnetic phase transition temperature of the FeRh0.96Pd0.04 film shifts from 300 to 325 K. As a result, the refrigeration temperature region is broadened from 35 to 47 K. These results indicate that applying multiple driving fields is an effective method for tuning the magnetocaloric effect.