The new intermetallic compound Eu₂Pd₂Sn has been investigated. A single crystal was selected from the alloy and was analyzed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, revealing that this compound possesses the noncentrosymmetric Ca₂Pd₂Ge structure type being, so far, the only rare-earth-based representative. Bonding analysis, performed on the basis of DOS and (I)COHP, reveals the presence of strong covalent Sn–Pd bonds in addition to linear and equidistant Pd–Pd chains. The incomplete ionization of Eu leads to its participation in weaker covalent interactions. The magnetic effective moment, extracted from the magnetic susceptibility χ(T) is μ_eff = 7.87 μ_B, close to the free ion Eu²⁺ value (μ_eff = 7.94 μ_B). The maximum of χ(T) at T_N ∼ 13 K indicates an antiferromagnetic behavior below this temperature. A coincident sharp anomaly in the specific heat C_P(T) emerges from a broad anomaly centered at around 10 K. From the reduced jump in the heat capacity at T_N a scenario of a transition to an incommensurate antiferromagnetic phase below T_N followed by a commensurate configuration below 10 K is suggested.

The magnetic, thermal, and transport properties of the noncentrosymmetric compound ${\mathrm{Eu}}_2{\mathrm{Pd}}_2\mathrm{Sn}$ are reexamined with the inclusion of detailed measurements. In its paramagnetic phase, the outstanding feature of this compound is the formation of ${\mathrm{Eu}}^{2+}$ dimers, which allows us to understand the deviation of the magnetic susceptibility $\chi \left(T\right)$ from the Curie-Weiss law below about 70 K, the field-dependent magnetization $M\left(B\right)$ below $\approx 80\mathrm{K}$, and the reduced entropy at the ordering temperature $S\left(T_N\right)=0.64Rln\left(8\right)$. A significant change in the exchange interactions occurs between $T\approx 70\mathrm{K}$ (where ${\theta }_P=18\mathrm{K})$ and $T_N=13.3\mathrm{K}$ (to ${\theta }_P=-4.5\mathrm{K})$. The strong electronic overlap, arising from the reduced Eu-Eu spacing (compared with that in pure ${\mathrm{Eu}}^{2+})$ is expected to favor dimer quasiparticles formation, leading to a significant change in the magnetic structure. From the analysis of the derivatives of the magnetic parameters, $\partial \chi /\partial T$ and $\partial M/\partial B$, as well as the field dependence of the specific heat and mangnetoresistance, a comprehensive magnetic phase diagram is obtained. Two critical points are recognized and a tentative description of the magnetic structures is proposed. The possible formation of a skyrmion lattice, arising from the presence of magnetically frustrated pockets in the phase diagram, is suggested by theoretical studies on hexagonal structures that exhibit similar interaction patterns.

We report the structural, magnetic, and magnetocaloric characterization of glass-coated Ni_42.9Mn_37.1Sn_20.0 microwires produced by the Taylor-Ulitovsky method. Microwire samples crystallized into a single-phase austenite with the L2₁-type crystal structure (space group $Fm\bar{3}m$ , lattice parameter a ≈ 6.02 Å) and a Curie temperature of 349 K. A distinctive feature of the produced microwires is that saturation magnetization is reached at a very low magnetic field (∼0.15 T). For a magnetic field change of 3 T, the produced microwires showed a reversible maximum magnetic entropy change |ΔS_M|^max of 2.3 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹ and a refrigerant capacity of 197 J kg⁻¹, which are similar to the values reported by other austenitic NiMnSn alloys produced by rapid quenching techniques.