“Two-steps” process in the first-order transformation of giant magnetocaloric materials

The most promising materials for applications in magnetic refrigeration exhibit a large entropy change at first-order ferromagnetic transition. Often, it has been observed that the transformation proceeds via two bursts surrounding regime of slow transformation. Within simplified framework, present article reports on thermodynamic model able to account this “two-steps” response. This is confronted and calorimetric data recorded magnetocaloric compound LaFe11.4Si1.31Co0.29 .