Abstract
Magnetoelectric (ME) effects in composite ferromagnet-piezoelectric (FM/PE) heterostructures realize the mutual transformation of alternating magnetic and electric fields, and are used to create magnetic field sensors, actuators, inductors, gyrators, and transformers. The ME effect in composite structures is excited by an alternating magnetic field, which is created using volumetric electromagnetic coils. The coil increases the size, limits the operating frequencies, and complicates the manufacture of devices. In this work, we propose to excite the ME effect in composite heterostructures using a new coil-free excitation system, similar to a “magnetic capacitor”. The system consists of parallel electrodes integrated into the heterostructure, through which an alternating current flows. Modeling and measurements have shown that the excitation magnetic field is localized mainly between the electrodes of the magnetic capacitor and has a fairly uniform spatial distribution. Monolithic FM/PE heterostructures of various designs with FM layers of amorphous Metglas alloy or nickel-zinc ferrite and PE layers of lead zirconate titanate piezoceramic were fabricated and investigated. The magnitude of the ME effect in such structures is comparable to the magnitude of the ME effect in structures excited by volumetric coils. However, the low impedance of the coil-free excitation system makes it possible to increase the operating frequency, reducing the size of ME devices and the power consumption. The use of coil-free excitation opens up the possibility of creating planar ME devices, and accelerates their integration into modern electronics and microsystem technology.
Highlights
In recent years, much attention has been paid to the development of new devices of microsystem engineering and electronics, such as highly sensitive magnetic field sensors [1], magnetic actuators [2,3], inductors and gyrators [4,5], transformers [6,7], devices for processing microwave signals [8], low-frequency antennas [9], and data storage elements [10] based on magnetoelectric (ME) effects in composite ferromagnet/piezoelectric (FM/PE) heterostructures
When the structure is exposed to an alternating magnetic field, the FM layer is deformed due to magnetostriction; this deformation is transmitted to the PE layer and it generates, due to the piezoelectric effect, an alternating electric voltage
When an alternating electric field is applied to the structure, the PE layer is deformed due to the inverse piezoelectric effect; this deformation is transferred to the FM layer, which leads to a change, due to inverse magnetostriction, of the magnetic induction in this layer
Summary
Much attention has been paid to the development of new devices of microsystem engineering and electronics, such as highly sensitive magnetic field sensors [1], magnetic actuators [2,3], inductors and gyrators [4,5], transformers [6,7], devices for processing microwave signals [8], low-frequency antennas [9], and data storage elements [10] based on magnetoelectric (ME) effects in composite ferromagnet/piezoelectric (FM/PE) heterostructures. In devices using the direct ME effect (such as dc magnetic field sensors, actuators, gyrators, controlled transformers, etc.), an excitation magnetic field is usually created using a volumetric electromagnetic coil with an alternating current flowing through it. As the frequency increases to 50 MHz, the current density decreases in the center of the electrode and increases on the surfaces of the electrode This does not affect the distribution of the magnetic field h in the plane of the excitation system. The simulation results show that the magnetic capacitor can operate, in contrast to the coils, at frequencies of tens to hundreds of MHz
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