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The antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition of the normal ZnFe2O4 has been intensively investigated with results showing a lack of long-range order, spin frustrations, and a "hidden" entropy in the calorimetric properties for inversion degrees δ ≈ 0 or δ = 0. As δ drastically impacts the magnetic properties, it is logical to question how a δ value slightly different from zero can affect the magnetic properties. In this work, (Zn1-δFeδ)[ZnδFe2-δ]O4 with δ = 0.05 and δ = 0.27 have been investigated with calorimetry at different applied fields. It is shown that a δ value as small as 0.05 may affect 40% of the unit cells, which become locally ferrimagnetic (FiM) and coexists with AFM and spin disordered regions. The spin disorder disappears under an applied field of 1 T. Mossbauer spectroscopy confirms the presence of a volume fraction with a low hyperfine field that can be ascribed to these spin disordered regions. The volume fractions of the three magnetic phases estimated from entropy and hyperfine measurements are roughly coincident and correspond to approximately 1/3 for each of them. The "hidden" entropy is the zero point entropy different from 0. Consequently, the so-called "hidden" entropy can be ascribed to the frustrations of the spins at the interphase between the AFM-FiM phases due to having δ ≈ 0 instead of ideal δ = 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining different experimental techniques, investigations in hexagonal P63/mmc Er2Fe17 show remarkable magnetovolume anomalies below the Curie temperature, Tc. The spontaneous magnetostriction reaches 1.6 x 10-2 at 5 K and falls to zero well above Tc, owing to short-range magnetic correlations. Moreover, Er2Fe17 exhibits direct and inverse magnetocaloric effects (MCE) with moderate isothermal magnetic entropy △SM, and adiabatic temperature △Tad changes [△SM ~ --4.7 J(kgK)-1 and △Tad ~ 2.5 K near the Tc, and △SM ~ 1.3 J(kgK)-1 and △Tad[1 ~ --0.6 K at 40 K for △H = 80 kOe, respectively, determined from magnetization measurements]. The existence of an inverse MCE seems to be related to a crystalline electric field-level crossover in the Er sublattice and the ferrimagnetic arrangement between the magnetic moments of the Er and Fe sublattice. The main trends found experimentally for the temperature dependence of △SM and △Tad as well as for the atomic magnetic moments are qualitatively well described considering a mean-field Hamiltonian that incorporates both crystalline electric field and exchange interactions. △SM(T) and △Tad(T) curves are essentially zero at ~150 K, the temperature where the transition from direct to inverse MCE occurs. A possible interplay between the MCE and the magnetovolume anomalies is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We have synthesized the intermetallic YPrFe17 compound by arc-melting. X-ray and neutron powder diffraction show that the crystal structure is rhombohedral with space group (Th2Zn17-type). The investigated compound exhibits a broad isothermal magnetic entropy change ΔS M (T) associated with the ferro-to-paramagnetic phase transition (T C ≈290K). The |ΔS M | (≈2.3Jkg−1 K−1) and the relative cooling power (≈100Jkg−1) have been calculated for applied magnetic field changes up to 1.5T. A single master curve for ΔS M under different values of the magnetic field change can be obtained by a rescaling of the temperature axis. The results are compared and discussed in terms of the magneto-caloric effect in the isostructural R2Fe17 (R=Y, Pr and Nd) binary intermetallic alloys. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]