Giant anisotropic magnetocaloric effect in antiferromagnetic topological semimetal HoSb

Magnetic rare-earth-based single crystals have aroused great interest due to their giant magnetocaloric effect (MCE). In this work, we present the anisotropic magnetic properties and MCE of the antiferromagnetic topological semimetal HoSb. A magnetic transition occurs at the Néel temperature (T_N = 6.2 K), and the antiferromagnetic state below T_N leads to an inverse MCE. Due to magnetic anisotropy, the maximum negative magnetic entropy of the magnetic field (μ₀H) along the [100] direction attains a value of 44.33 J/kg K at 7 T, far exceeding the maximum negative magnetic entropy observed in the μ₀H//[110] and μ₀H//[111] directions. This anisotropic MCE results in a large rotational MCE, with the rotational maximum magnetic entropy measuring -17.99 J/kg K at 3 T and 14.56 J/kg K at 7 T. Additionally, the adiabatic temperature change and the refrigerant capacity were also calculated to further evaluate the MCE. The giant anisotropic magnetocaloric effect in HoSb makes it a potential candidate for low-temperature magnetocaloric applications.