We present the impact of growth conditions on the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of ${\mathrm{La}}_2{\mathrm{NiMnO}}_6$ thin films. The magnetocaloric effect can be controlled to obtain, for example, flat temperature-independent magnetic entropy variations $-\mathrm{\Delta }{S}_M(T)$ over an unusually large temperature range extending from 100 to 300 K. This tabletop shape makes it of great interest from a practical point of view and should inspire alternative ways of tailoring magnetocaloric materials in terms of their implementation in magnetocaloric devices. We show also that the magnetocaloric effect is a great tool to better characterize magnetic materials with multiple magnetic phase transitions.

• Received 1 September 2017
• Revised 11 April 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.9.054042