  We report the fabrication of ErAl2 magnetocaloric wires by a powder-in-tube
method (PIT) and the evaluation of magnetic entropy change through
magnetization measurements. The magnetic entropy change of ErAl2 PIT wires
exhibits similar behavior to the bulk counterpart, while its magnitude is
reduced by the decrease in the volume fraction of ErAl2 due to the surrounding
non-magnetic sheaths. We find that another effect reduces the magnetic entropy
change of the ErAl2 PIT wires around the Curie temperature, and discuss its
possible origin in terms of a correlation between magnetic properties of ErAl2
and mechanical properties of sheath material.
