Yaojin Wang

An Extremely Low Equivalent Magnetic Noise Magnetoelectric Sensor

As a result of the coupling between their dual order parameters, multiferroic materials exhibit unusual physical properties and, in turn, promise new device applications. [ 1 , 2 ] Of particular interest is the existence of a cross-coupling between the magnetic and electric orders, termed the magnetoelectric (ME) effect. [ 3–5 ] Because no single-phase material has been put forward demonstrating a practical capacity for such coupling at room temperature, [ 8 ] many of the most promising applications offered by the ME effect, including magnetic fi eld sensors and electric write-magnetic read memory devices, have not been forthcoming. [ 6 , 7 ] Furthermore, the exploitation of high magnetic fi eld sensitivity in two-phase ferromagnetic/ferroelectric composites requires development and identifi cation of end users. [ 7 ]

Giant strain with ultra-low hysteresis and high temperature stability in grain oriented lead-free K0.5Bi0.5TiO3-BaTiO3-Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 piezoelectric materials

We synthesized grain-oriented lead-free piezoelectric materials in (K0.5Bi0.5TiO3-BaTiO3-xNa0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (KBT-BT-NBT) system with high degree of texturing along the [001]c (c-cubic) crystallographic orientation. We demonstrate giant field induced strain (~0.48%) with an ultra-low hysteresis along with enhanced piezoelectric response (d33 ~ 190pC/N) and high temperature stability (~160°C). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) results demonstrate smaller size highly ordered domain structure in grain-oriented specimen relative to the conventional polycrystalline ceramics. The grain oriented specimens exhibited a high degree of non-180° domain switching, in comparison to the randomly axed ones. These results indicate the effective solution to the lead-free piezoelectric materials.

Giant magnetoelectric effect in self-biased laminates under zero magnetic field

A giant magnetoelectric (ME) effect in self-biased annealed Metglas/Pb(Zr,Ti)O3/Metglas laminates under zero magnetic bias is reported. The remanent magnetization was increased by annealing Metglas, which generated an internal bias field. This shifted the M-H hysteresis loops, yielding large values for the ME voltage coefficient of αME = 12 V/cm·Oe and 380 V/cm·Oe at 1 kHz and electromechanical resonance under zero magnetic bias, respectively. This self-biased laminate is shown to have a high sensitivity to ac magnetic fields.

Enhanced sensitivity to direct current magnetic field changes in Metglas/Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 laminates

We have developed Metglas/Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 magnetoelectric (ME) laminates that have notably larger ME coefficients, with maximum values of up to 45 V/cm Oe. Based on this giant ME effect, the dc magnetic field sensitivity for Metglas/PMN–PT laminate sensors was improved by a factor of > 3, relative to that for Metglas/Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT)-based ones of the same geometry. Our new ME sensor can detect dc magnetic field changes as small as (i) 5 nT at 1 kHz and (ii) 1 nT near the resonant frequency in a shield chamber.

A review on equivalent magnetic noise of magnetoelectric laminate sensors

Since the turn of the millennium, multi-phase magnetoelectric (ME) composites have been subject to attention and development, and giant ME effects have been found in laminate composites of piezoelectric and magnetostrictive layers. From an application perspective, the practical usefulness of a magnetic sensor is determined not only by the output signal of the sensor in response to an incident magnetic field, but also by the equivalent magnetic noise generated in the absence of such an incident field. Here, a short review of developments in equivalent magnetic noise reduction for ME sensors is presented. This review focuses on internal noise, the analysis of the noise contributions and a summary of noise reduction strategies. Furthermore, external vibration noise is also discussed. The review concludes with an outlook on future possibilities and scientific challenges in the field of ME magnetic sensors.

Magnetoelectric Assisted 180° Magnetization Switching for Electric Field Addressable Writing in Magnetoresistive Random-Access Memory

Magnetization-based memories, e.g., hard drive and magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM), use bistable magnetic domains in patterned nanomagnets for information recording. Electric field (E) tunable magnetic anisotropy can lower the energy barrier between two distinct magnetic states, promising reduced power consumption and increased recording density. However, integration of magnetoelectric heterostructure into MRAM is a highly challenging task owing to the particular architecture requirements of each component. Here, we show an epitaxial growth of self-assembled CoFe2O4 nanostripes with bistable in-plane magnetizations on Pb(Mg,Nb)O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) substrates, where the magnetic switching can be triggered by E-induced elastic strain effect. An unprecedented magnetic coercive field change of up to 600 Oe was observed with increasing E. A near 180° magnetization rotation can be activated by E in the vicinity of the magnetic coercive field. These findings might help to solve the 1/2-selection problem in traditional MRAM by providing reduced magnetic coercive field in E field selected memory cells.

Theoretical and experimental investigation of magnetoelectric effect for bending-tension coupled modes in magnetostrictive-piezoelectric layered composites

In this paper, we discuss a theoretical model with experimental verification for the resonance enhancement of magnetoelectric (ME) interactions at frequencies corresponding to bending-tension oscillations. A dynamic theory of arbitrary laminated magneto-elasto-electric bars was constructed. The model included bending and longitudinal vibration effects for predicting ME coefficients in laminate bar composite structures consisting of magnetostrictive, piezoelectric, and pure elastic layers. The thickness dependence of stress, strain, and magnetic and electric fields within a sample are taken into account, as such the bending deformations should be considered in an applied magnetic or electric field. The frequency dependence of the ME voltage coefficients has obtained by solving electrostatic, magnetostatic, and elastodynamic equations. We consider boundary conditions corresponding to free vibrations at both ends. As a demonstration, our theory for multilayer ME composites was then applied to ferromagnetic-f...

Thermal stability of magnetoelectric sensors

The effect of temperature on the equivalent magnetic noise floor of Metglas-Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) laminate magnetoelectric (ME) sensors has been investigated in the temperature range of −50 °C to 50 °C. In detail, the parameters that control the noise floor of ME sensors, such as capacitance, tan δ, and ME charge coefficient, were characterized. The results show the noise floor was thermally stable around 30 pT/√Hz (f = 1 Hz) over the studied temperature range. To demonstrate the relative invariance of ME sensor at different temperatures over the range studied, a simulation based on a noise model was conducted, where the predicted and measured equivalent magnetic noise floors were found to well agree.

Theoretical model for geometry-dependent magnetoelectric effect in magnetostrictive/piezoelectric composites

A quasistatic theoretical model including geometry effect is presented for predicting the magnetoelectric (ME) coefficients in a ME multilayer composite consisting of magnetostrictive and piezoelectric layers. The model is developed based on average-field method considering the geometry effect. The model characterizes the ME coefficient in terms of not only the parameters of two composite components and the thickness fraction but also the length and width fractions for the piezoelectric or magnetostrictive components. Analytical predictions indicate that the width and length fractions strongly influence the maximum ME coefficient and the corresponding thickness fraction also. Clearly, geometry effects cannot be ignored in predicting ME coefficient. Theoretical ME coefficients are also compared to experimental test data, demonstrating excellent agreement.

Shear-mode magnetostrictive/piezoelectric composite with an enhanced magnetoelectric coefficient

A magnetoelectric (ME) laminate heterostructure consisting of two shear-mode piezoelectric Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-30PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) single crystal layers, a longitudinally magnetized magnetostrictive Tb0.3Dy0.7Fe1.92 alloy plate, and a mechanical clamping brass substrate has been demonstrated that has a notably superior ME effect relative to previous laminate configurations of these two materials. A giant ME coefficient of 7.5 V/(cm Oe) at low frequencies under an optimal dc magnetic bias of ∼400 Oe was found. The superior ME effects originate from the nature of heterostructure design, which allows the PMN-PT single crystals to operate in a shear mode that has maximum electro-mechanical coupling (i.e., d15 = 6800 pC/N).