Investigation of compounds for magnetocaloric applications: Y[Fe.sub.2][H.sub.4.2], Y[Fe.sub.2][D.sub.4.2], and [Y.sub.0.5][Tb.sub.0.5][Fe.sub.2][D.sub.4.2]

The magnetocaloric properties of powder samples of the monoclinic Y[Fe.sub.2][H.sub.4.2], Y[Fe.sub.2][D.sub.4.2] and [Y.sub.0.5][Tb.sub.0.5][Fe.sub.2][D.sub.4.2] compounds are analyzed at their itinerant electron metamagnetic transition. Large reversible entropy changes have made the alloys as good candidates for magnetic refrigeration applications and the results are compared to previous data on other potential magnetic refrigerants with itinerant electron metamagnetic transitions.