The Magnetoelectric Effect of a Ni0.3Zn0.62Cu0.08Fe2O4 - PbFe0.5Nb0.5O3 Multilayer Composite

Abstract

Abstract The magnetoelectric effect in multiferroic materials has been widely studied for its fundamental interest and practical applications. The magnetoelectric effect observed for single phase materials like Cr2O3, BiFeO3, and Pb(Fe0.5Nb0.5)O3 is usually small. A much larger effect can be obtained in composites consisting of magnetostrictive and piezoelectric phases. This paper investigates the magnetoelectric effect of a multilayer (laminated) structure consisting of 6 nickel ferrite and 7 PFN relaxor layers. It describes the synthesis and tape casting process for Ni0.3Zn0.62Cu0.08Fe2O4 ferrite and relaxor PbFe0.5Nb0.5O3 (PFN). Magnetic hysteresis, ZFC - FC curves and dependencies of magnetization versus temperature for PFN relaxor and magnetoelectric composite were measured with a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) in an applied magnetic field up to 85 kOe at a temperature range of 10 – 400 K. Magnetoelectric effect at room temperature was investigated as a function of a static magnetic field (0.3 - 6.5 kOe) and the frequency of sinusoidal magnetic field (0.01 - 6.5 kHz). At lower magnetic field, the magnetoelectric coefficient increases slightly before reaching a maximum and then decreases. The magnetoelectric coefficient aME increases continuously as the frequency is raised, although this increase is less pronounced in the 1-6.5 kHz range. Maximum values of the magnetoelectric coefficient attained for the layered composites exceed about 50 mV/(Oe cm).