Magnetostructural phase transitions in manganese arsenide single crystals

The effect of an external magnetic field with a strength up to 140 kOe on the phase transitions in manganese arsenide single crystals has been investigated. The existence of unstable magnetic and crystal structures at temperatures above the Curie temperature TC = 308 K has been established. The displacements of manganese and arsenic atoms during the magnetostructural phase transition and the shift in the temperature of the first-order magnetostructural phase transition in a magnetic field have been determined. It has been shown that the magnetocaloric effect in a magnetic field of 140 kOe near the Curie temperature TC is equal to ΔT ∼ 13 K. A model of the superparamagnetic state in MnAs above the temperature TC has been proposed using the data on the magnetic properties and structural transformation in the region of the first-order magnetostructural phase transition. It has been demonstrated that, at temperatures close to TC, apart from the contribution to the change in the entropy from the change in the magnetization there is a significant contribution from the transformation of the crystal lattice due to the magnetostructural phase transition.