Exchange bias effects and a large magnetocaloric effect arising out of the second-order transition in suction cast Ni50Mn36Sn14

We report the presence of spin glass states, exchange bias effects and a significant magnetocaloric effect in suction cast Ni50Mn36Sn14 alloy rods. Ab initio calculations revealed that the austenite unit cell is ferromagnetic in nature, which arises from the antiparallel interactions of the moments centered on the Mn atoms. DC magnetization studies revealed an increasing irreversibility between the zero field cooled and field cooling lines suggesting at the development of competing interactions in the sample The presence of SG clusters in a ferromagnetic matrix resulted in conventional exchange bias effects, vanishing above the blocking temperature. Furthermore, the second-order transition at 329.4 K generated high values of the isothermal entropy change and relative cooling power of − 5.92 J/kg/K and 118.5 J/kg, respectively, for a field change of 5 T. The critical exponents at the second-order transition were also calculated and found to be close to the mean-field predictions.