Tunable magnetic and magnetocaloric properties in heavy rare-earth based metallic glasses through the substitution of similar elements

The influence of interchangeable substitution of similar heavy rare-earth-elements (HRE), i.e., Gd-Ho, Gd-Er, and Ho-Er, on the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of HRE₅₅Al_27.5Co_17.5 metallic glasses was evaluated. The magnetic transition temperature (T _C) can be tuned in a wide temperature range from 8 K to 93 K by adjusting the substitutional concentration in the resulting metallic glasses. A roughly linear correlation between peak value of magnetic entropy change (|ΔS_M^pk|) and T_C^-2/3 was obtained in the three systems. This kind of substitutional adjustment provides a useful method for designing desirable candidates in metallic glasses with high magnetic entropy change, large magnetic cooling efficiency, and tunable T _C for magnetic refrigerant in nitrogen and hydrogen liquefaction temperature ranges.