Specific heat and magnetocaloric effect of LaFe$_{11.2-x}$Mn$_{x}$Co$_{0.7}$Si$_{1.1}$ ($x$ = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3)

The specific heat and the magnetocaloric effect of intermetallic LaFe$_{11.2-x}$Mn$_{x}$Co$_{0.7}$Si$_{1.1}$ ($x$ = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) compounds have been measured in the temperature range 80–300 K in magnetic fields up to 8 T. The magnetocaloric effect (MCE) is estimated by two methods: the direct method in cyclic magnetic fields and also indirect method from the data on the specific heat. An increase in the Mn atom concentration leads to a shift of the Curie temperature $T_C$ toward lower temperatures; in this case, the MCE magnitude is changed insignificantly.