Tailoring of magnetocaloric response in nanostructured materials: Role of anisotropy

The magnetocaloric response of an ensemble of oriented uniaxial magnetic objects, perpendicularly magnetized to their easy axes, for temperatures close to the blocking temperature is calculated with the aim of demonstrating that the control of the sample's microstructure makes up an effective way to tailor its magnetocaloric response. Coexisting positive and negative magnetocaloric effect (MCE) is found for a model material with a single magnetic phase transition. Both MCE regimes are controlled by the magnitude of the applied magnetic field. As a proof of concept, experimental results for arrays of self-assembled ferromagnetic nanowires embedded into highly ordered nanoporous anodic alumina templates are shown, suggesting the validity of the numerical calculations.