Magnetic Refrigeration: A Review of a Developing Technology

Magnetic refrigeration has been used for over 50 years as a technique to achieve temperatures well below 1 K. However, in the last ten years, the technology has been developing for refrigeration applications above 1 K up to, and including heat pumps above room temperature. The work has been multinational in scope and has focused on analysis of magnetic thermodynamic systems, investigation of magnetic materials suitable for refrigerants, and development of prototype refrigerators. Devices providing refrigeration between 1.5 K and 4.2 K, 4.2 K and 20 K, and near room temperature have been emphasized. Recently development efforts have been extended into the 20 K to 80 K temperature range. The understanding of the fundamental limits on magnetic refrigeration is slowly evolving as is a data base for design. The thermodynamic performance of the prototypes has been steadily improving but still has not reached the theoretical limits predicted by analysis.

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