Influence of Partial Substitution of Fe by Mn on the Thermomagnetic Properties of Magnetocaloric $LaFe_{11.2}Co_{0.7}Si_{1.1}$ Alloy

The aim of this paper was to study the influence of partial substitution of Fe by Mn in the $LaFe_{11.2-x}Mn_{x}Co_{0.7}Si_{1.1}$ (where x=0.1, 0.2 and 0.3) alloys. Measurements revealed that a systematic increase of Mn in the alloy composition resulted in a decrease of the Curie temperature, which correlated with a decrease of the lattice parameter of the La(Fe,Si)₁₃- type phase. For samples corresponding to Mn content x=0.1 and 0.2 a decrease of magnetic entropy change was observed. However in the case of the sample with x=0.3 an increase of magnetic entropy change was detected.