Fabrication of Gd films by vacuum evaporation and its magnetocaloric properties

We report the fabrication of Gd films with dimples on the surface by vacuum evaporation method on Hastelloy substrate. The Gd films are structurally and morphologically studied by x-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscope respectively and found to be hexagonal crystal structure. The magnetocaloric properties are studied and found to be well comparable with commercial Gd sheet. The calculated magnetic entropy change in Gd films is 9.57 J/kg K at Curie temperature (T_C) of 294 K with second order magnetic phase transition under applied magnetic field 5 T. - Highlights: • Gd films have been successfully deposited on the Hastelloy substrate. • The −∆S_M values for Gd film and Gd sheet are 9.57 J/kg K and 9.10 J/kg K. • The ferromagnetic to paramagnetic phase transition is second order type in Gd film. • Gd film is considered useful in the form of stacking structure for targeted AMR