Large magnetoresistance and magnetocaloric effect above 70 K in Gd<SUB>2</SUB>Co<SUB>2</SUB>Al, Gd<SUB>2</SUB>Co<SUB>2</SUB>Ga, and Gd<SUB>7</SUB>Rh<SUB>3</SUB>

The electrical resistivity, magnetization, and heat-capacity behavior of the Gd-based compounds, Gd2Co2Al, Gd2Co2Ga, and Gd7Rh3, ordering magnetically at TC=78 K, TC=76 K, and TN=140 K, have been investigated as a function of temperature and magnetic field. All these compounds are found to show large magnetoresistance (with a negative sign) in the paramagnetic state at rather high temperatures with the magnitude peaking at respective magnetic ordering temperatures. There is a corresponding behavior in the magnetocaloric effect as inferred from the entropy derived from these data