Large converse magnetoelectric effect in Sm doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)-PbTiO3 and NiFe2O4 laminate composite

Abstract The magnetoelectric bilayer composite Sm-doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)-PbTiO3/NiFe2O4 (Sm:PMN-PT/NFO) developed in this study exhibits a converse magnetoelectric coefficient (αCME) of 0.34 G cm/V at resonance. This value is at least an order of magnitude higher than any previously reported αCME for polycrystalline ferrite-based laminate composites. The large CME coefficients in both dc- and self-biased modes are attributed to the high transverse piezoelectric coefficient (d31 ∼ −421 pC/N) of the piezoelectric phase Sm:PMN-PT. High converse magnetoelectric coefficient and characteristic advantages of ferrite-based magnetoelectric (ME) materials such as low eddy current losses make this composite a potential candidate for the ME devices operating in the converse mode. In particular, its performance characteristics for two applications —voltage to current converter, and as a magnetic switch —have been investigated. The laminate composite exhibits current to voltage conversion performance of 14 mA/V at the resonance frequency. The performance characteristics as a magnetic switch show that the bi-stable states separated by 25 G can be realized through an AC signal of 5V.