Influence of heat sintering on the physical properties of bulk LaCaMnO perovskite manganite: role of oxygen in tuning the magnetocaloric response.

The effect of heat treatments on bulk poly-crystalline LaCaMnO perovskite manganite is presented, to explore the possible enhancement in magnetocaloric performance. Samples were prepared conventional solid-state reaction route with annealing and sintering at various temperatures. Detailed measurements of temperature-dependent and field-dependent magnetization were carried out to estimate the Curie point and order of magnetic transition.