Inverse magnetocaloric effect of epitaxial Ni-Mn-Sn thin films

Epitaxial Ni-Mn-Sn thin films of 200 nm thickness were prepared by magnetron sputtering and deposited onto MgO(100) substrate. They reveal an inverse magnetocaloric effect with a martensitic phase transition around 260 K. The resulting magnetocaloric properties of these films have been determined performing magnetization measurements in the temperature range between 10 and 330K applying different magnetic fields. The maximum values of entropy change and relative cooling power are 1.6 J kg(-1) K-1 and 36.5 J kg(-1) for cooling and 1.5 J kg(-1) K-1 and 33.9 J kg(-1) for heating in mu(0)Delta DH = 1 T, respectively. These data are comparable with bulk values of Ni-Mn-Sn Heusler alloys. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.