Introducing the Magnetocaloric effect

Abstract

This presentation gives the basic of the magnetocaloric effect to master's degree students in Advanced Physics. The reader can have an overview of the thermodynamic description of the phenomenon for common materials, the standard and non-common experimental procedures to determine the magnetocaloric properties, and the discussion of several examples of the most relevant magnetocaloric materials. To finish the introduction, the main application of the magnetocaloric effect and the perspectives of this technology are analyzed.