Abstract
The strain-driven interfacial coupling between the ferromagnetic and ferroelectric constituents of magnetoelectric (ME) composites makes them potential candidates for novel multifunctional devices. ME composites in the form of thin-film heterostructures show promising applications in miniaturized ME devices. This article reports the recent advancement in ME thin-film devices, such as highly sensitive magnetic field sensors, ME antennas, integrated tunable ME inductors, and ME band-pass filters, is discussed. (Pb1−xZrx)TiO3 (PZT), Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT), Aluminium nitride (AlN), and Al1−xScxN are the most commonly used piezoelectric constituents, whereas FeGa, FeGaB, FeCo, FeCoB, and Metglas (FeCoSiB alloy) are the most commonly used magnetostrictive constituents in the thin film ME devices. The ME field sensors offer a limit of detection in the fT/Hz1/2 range at the mechanical resonance frequency. However, below resonance, different frequency conversion techniques with AC magnetic or electric fields or the delta-E effect are used. Noise floors of 1–100 pT/Hz1/2 at 1 Hz were obtained. Acoustically actuated nanomechanical ME antennas operating at a very-high frequency as well as ultra-high frequency (0.1–3 GHz) range, were introduced. The ME antennas were successfully miniaturized by a few orders smaller in size compared to the state-of-the-art conventional antennas. The designed antennas exhibit potential application in biomedical devices and wearable antennas. Integrated tunable inductors and band-pass filters tuned by electric and magnetic field with a wide operating frequency range are also discussed along with miniaturized ME energy harvesters.
Highlights
Magnetoelectric (ME) composites composed of two distinct magnetostrictive and piezoelectric constituents have shown great promise as energy harvesters, gyrators, magnetic field sensors, and transducers, [1,2,3,4,5] owing to their multifunctional properties, which are absent in the individual constituents [1,2]
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
We focus on current developments in different ME thin film devices, such as nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) ME resonators, integrated magnetic tunable inductors, tunable radio frequency (RF) bandpass filters, novel NEMS ME antennas, and miniaturized energy harvesters
Summary
Magnetoelectric (ME) composites composed of two distinct magnetostrictive and piezoelectric constituents have shown great promise as energy harvesters, gyrators, magnetic field sensors, and transducers, [1,2,3,4,5] owing to their multifunctional properties, which are absent in the individual constituents [1,2]. In CME, the applied electric field generates stress in the piezoelectric layer via converse piezoelectric effect, which induces strain in the magnetostrictive phase, resulting in magnetization through the piezomagnetic effect. Recent developments in thin-film fabrication techniques have provided more alternatives for the fabrication of different ME heterostructures, where ferromagnetic and ferroelectric constituents can be coupled at an atomic level to achieve good interfacial coupling in strain-mediated ME composites [4] In this context, different types of ME thin films, particulate heterostructures (0–3), vertical heterostructures (1–3), and laminate (2–2) (Figure 1) have been fabricated using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) [7,8], molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) [9,10], metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) [11], spin coating [12], and sputtering [13,14]. We focus on current developments in different ME thin film devices, such as nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) ME resonators, integrated magnetic tunable inductors, tunable RF bandpass filters, novel NEMS ME antennas, and miniaturized energy harvesters
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
