MAGNETOCALORIC EFFECT .1. AN INTRODUCTION TO VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THEORY AND PRACTICE

Study of the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) is of particular interest from two points of view. First, it is a research technique for phase transitions in various magnets, and second, it is a means of investigating materials that show promise as working substances for magnetic refrigerators. This paper is the first part of our work, and discusses three aspects in detail: use of MCE to study magnetic phase transitions, methods of investigating MCE, and MCE in 3d magnets. Investigation of MCE is shown to yield the kind of information on the object under study that is hard to obtain by any other technique. Data are given on 3d magnets that are fairly promising for magnetic refrigeration in various temperature regions.