Magnetocaloric effect from indirect measurements: Magnetization and heat capacity

Accurate values for the magnetocaloric effect can be obtained from both mag netization and heat-capacity data. A reliable estimate of the experimental errors in the calculated magnetocaloric effect can be made from the known e xperimental errors of the measured physical properties. Attempts in the pas t to simplify the basic thermodynamic relation to allow the calculation of the adiabatic temperature change from the heat capacity at constant field a nd the magnetic entropy change calculated from the magnetization data fail because the assumption that heat capacity is magnetic-field independent is erroneous. A suitable approach to carry out these calculations from the com bined heat capacity and magnetization data is suggested. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)04013-X].