Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of the high-temperature modification of TbTiGe.

The high-temperature form (HT) of the ternary germanide TbTiGe was prepared by melting. The investigation of HT-TbTiGe by x-ray and neutron powder diffractions shows that the compound crystallizes in the tetragonal CeScSi-type structure (space group I4/mmm; a = 404.84(5) and c = 1530.10(9) pm as unit cell parameters). Magnetization and specific heat measurements as well as neutron powder diffraction performed on HT-TbTiGe reveal a ferromagnet having T(C) = 300(1) K as the Curie temperature; the Tb-moments are aligned along the c-axis. This magnetic ordering is associated with a modest magnetocaloric effect around room temperature. The isothermal magnetic entropy change ΔS(m) was determined from the magnetization data; ΔS(m) reaches, respectively, a maximum value of  - 4.3 and  - 2.0 J K(-1) kg(-1) for a magnetic field change of 5 and 2 T.