Giant circumferential magnetoelectric effect in Pb(Zr,Ti)O3/Mn-Zn-ferrite cylindrical composite

Abstract

Giant magnetoelectric effect was observed in Pb(Zr,Ti)O3(PZT)/Mn-Zn-ferrite cylindrical composite with both DC bias and AC magnetic fields along circumferential direction. The circumferential magnetoelectric voltage coefficient αME,C-C at low frequency f = 1 kHz and resonance frequency fr = 73.9 kHz reaches 1 Vcm−1 Oe−1 and 381 Vcm−1 Oe−1, respectively, at low optimum bias field H DC= 0.40 Oe, which is the highest values of circumferential magnetoelectric voltage coefficient in all kinds of magnetoelectric structures reported ever. Combining constitutive equations for piezoelectric phase and magnetic phase under circumferential excitation with equation of motion for continuous medium, the frequency dependence of αME,C-C was derived as a function of material parameters and geometrical sizes, which agrees well with the experimental results. The achieved high circumferential magnetoelectric effect originates from low compliance of Mn-Zn-ferrite, improved interface mechanical coupling and self-bound effect due to cylindrical structure, and absence of effect of demagnetization factor with circumferential excitation and bias. The distinct features including giant circumferential ME effect, extremely low bias field and cheap cost of Mn-Zn-ferrite promise the PZT/Mn-Zn-ferrite cylindrical composite as a competitive device for vortex magnetic field detection and transducers.