Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2022) 137: 490
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-02694-8

Regular Article

Conventional and inverse magnetocaloric and electrocaloric effects of a mixed spin-(1/2, 1) Heisenberg dimer

¹ Institute of Experimental Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Watsonova 47, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia
² Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Faculty of Science, P. J. Šafárik University, Park Angelinum 9, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia

^a hcencar@saske.sk

Received: 3 December 2021
Accepted: 5 April 2022
Published online: 20 April 2022

Abstract

The mixed spin-(1/2, 1) Heisenberg dimer accounting for two different Landé g-factors is exactly examined in presence of external magnetic and electric field by considering exchange as well as uniaxial single-ion anisotropies. Rigorously calculated ground-state phase diagrams affirm existence of three different types of zero-temperature phase transitions accompanied with a nonzero value of a residual entropy. Presence of a magnetoelectric effect accounted within Katsura–Nagaosa–Balatsky mechanism is demonstrated through the analysis of the magnetization and dielectric polarization in response to both external fields. The analysis of two basic magnetocaloric characteristics, the adiabatic change of temperature and the isothermal entropy change, achieved upon variation of external fields, are exactly calculated in order to investigate the (multi)caloric behavior. The obtained results confirm existence of both conventional as well as inverse magnetocaloric effects. Utilizing the refrigeration capacity coefficient it is found that the application of an electric field during the adiabatic demagnetization process may lead to an enhancement of cooling performance in the region of conventional magnetocaloric effect. On the other hand, a sufficiently large electric field can reduce an inverse caloric effect provided that the electric-field-induced transition from the fully to partially polarized state is realized.