Anisotropic and excellent magnetocaloric properties of La 0.7Ca0.3MnO3 single crystal with anomalous magnetization

Magnetic properties and the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) have been investigated in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 single crystal with applied field along both the ab-plane and the c-direction. Due to the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, the crystal exhibits anisotropy in the MCE. Upon application of a 5 T field, the magnetic entropy changes (SM), reaching values of 7.668 J/(kg K) and 6.412 J/(kg K) for both the ab-plane and the c-direction, respectively. A magnetic entropy change of 3.3 J/(kg K) was achieved for a magnetic field change of 1.5 T at the Curie temperature, TC = 245 K. Due to the absence of grains in the single crystal, the SM distribution here is much more uniform than for gadolinium (Gd) and other polycrystalline manganites, which is desirable for an Ericsson-cycle magnetic refrigerator. For a field change of 5 T, the relative cooling power, RCP, reached 358.17 J/kg, while the maximum adiabatic temperature change of 5.33 K and a magnetoresistance (MR) ratio of 507.88% at TC were observed. We analysed the magnetization of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 single crystal at TC and estimated several parameters of spin fluctuation on the basis of a self-consistent renormalization theory of spin fluctuations, with reciprocal susceptibility above TC. We found that the magnetic property of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 is weakly itinerant ferromagnetic. A large reversible MCE and no hysteresis loss with a considerable value of refrigerant capacity indicate that La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 single crystal is a potential candidate as a magnetic refrigerant.