Effects of Ca substitution on magnetic and magnetocaloric properties in PrBa_1-xCa_xMn₂O₆ system

In this study, we have examined the effect of Ba substitution by Ca on the magnetic, and magnetocaloric properties of PrBa1-xCaxMn2O6 (x = 0, 0.2 and 0.3) double perovskite manganites produced using sol-gel method. The samples were indexed in orthorhombic structure (with space group of Pbnm). The temperature-dependent magnetization, M(T), measurements indicate that all samples have a magnetic phase transition from ferromagnetic (FM) to paramagnetic (PM) state with increasing temperature. Curie temperature (T-C) decreases with increasing Ca content in the main lattice. From the magnetic field dependence of magnetization measurements, M(H), maximum magnetic entropy change (-Delta S-M(max)) values were calculated as 4.07, 4.12, and 5.04 Jkg(-1)K(-1) under 5 T for PrBaCaMn2O6, PrBa0.8Ca0.2Mn2O6, and PrBa0.7Ca0.3Mn2O6 samples, respectively. Relative cooling power (RCP) values below 5 T were determined as 214.16, 227.14 and 279.62 Jkg(-1) based on the increasing Ca content. The -Delta S-M(max) and RCP values enhance with increasing Ca content, respectively. The nature of the phase transition, checked by Banerjee criterion and Franco's universal master curves, was found to be second order magnetic phase transition (SOMT).