A Comparative Investigation of Magnetoelectric Characteristics of Nano Bi-Layer Bar and Plate Structures

Abstract

In this paper, the magnetoelectric (ME) characteristics of bar and plate structures of the nano bi-layer ME materials are investigated and compared. The mathematical models of ME coefficients of the nano bi-layer bar and plate structures operated in the longitudinal-transverse (L-T) mode are developed using the constitutive equations and Newton’s second law. The nano bi-layer of interest consists of Terfenol-D and Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) as ferromagnetic (FM) and ferroelectric (FE) phases, respectively. In the low frequency regime, the optimal thickness ratios of bar and plate structures that yield maximum ME coefficients are around 0.43 and 0.33, respectively. The optimal thickness ratios are applied in the high frequency regime to obtain the conditions where the maximum ME coefficients can be achieved. It is found that the resonant frequencies of the bar and plate structures decrease exponentially with the bi-layer length and thickness, respectively. The results also indicate that at the same resonant frequency, the dimension of the bar structure is significantly smaller than the plate structure, it thus becomes more preferable for nano scale sensing applications.