| Sumario: | Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of single-crystalline Er5Si4 have been investigated as a function of the applied magnetic field (up to 50 kOe) and the hydrostatic pressure (up to 10 kbar) in the 5–300 K temperature range along the three main crystallographic directions. The magnetization isotherms show a highly anisotropic behavior with the easy-magnetization direction along the axis for the low-pressure monoclinic and high-pressure orthorhombic structures, in good agreement with previous neutron scattering experiments. Below , the approach to the saturation shows a steplike behavior when the magnetic field is applied along the hard directions. The steps are sharper as the pressure increases. At constant magnetic field change, increasing the pressure induces a highly anisotropic enhancement of the magnetic entropy change. An enhancement of 20% is observed along the easy axis , where the magnetic entropy change is maximum. The different evolution of the magnitude and temperature dependence of the magnetocaloric effect along the three crystallographic directions with pressure is discussed.
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