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Probing the skyrmion phase of MnSi through the field-exponent of the isothermal entropy change

Tapas Samanta1,*, Chris Taake1, and Luana Caron1,2

  • *Contact author: tapas.sinp@gmail.com
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Phys. Rev. Materials 9, 064413 – Published 26 June, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/1ftc-3xyw

Abstract

A detailed study of the field-induced entropy change evolution under hydrostatic pressure (p) of the well-known skyrmion-hosting MnSi system was carried with the goal of assessing its magnetocaloric properties and identifying the skyrmion phase. The pressure-induced modification of the first-order phase transition boundary of the skyrmion phase in MnSi has been determined through the field-exponent, n(T,B), of the isothermal entropy change [ΔSα(B)n]. The skyrmion phase boundaries generated from n(T,B) and ac-susceptibility data are in qualitatively good agreement at ambient pressure. The application of hydrostatic pressure can lower the transition temperature of MnSi towards the hydrogen liquefaction temperature (∼20 K) while retaining the first-order nature of the phase transition up to the highest applied pressure of p=9.8kbar. As a result, the studied system maintains good magnetocaloric properties near 20 K [|ΔS|=4.24J/kgK, adiabatic temperature change |ΔTad|=4.62K (estimated), and refrigerant capacity |RC|=91.37J/kg for ΔB=7T with p=9.8kbar], which are comparable to those of light rare-earth Laves phase compounds with the added benefit of being composed of cheap and abundant elements.

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Phys. Rev. Materials 9, 064413– Published 26 June, 2025
  • Received 16 January 2025
  • Revised 14 May 2025
  • Accepted 9 June 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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