Curie temperature
Research is being conducted on magnetic refrigeration near room temperature, which could provide significant efficiency and environmental advantages over conventional refrigeration methods. Gadolinium-based materials, such as Gd5(Si"x"Ge1−"x")4, are currently the most promising materials, owing to their high Curie temperature and giant magnetocaloric effect. Pure Gd itself exhibits a large magnetocaloric effect near its Curie temperature of , and this has sparked great interest into producing Gd alloys with a larger effect and tunable Curie temperature. In Gd5(Si"x"Ge1−"x")4, Si and Ge compositions can be varied to adjust the Curie temperature. This technology is still very early in development, and significant material improvements still need to be made before it is commercially viable.