Voltage-Impulse-Induced Nonvolatile Control of Inductance in Tunable Magnetoelectric Inductors

Abstract

Tunable inductors are important for $i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}n$ $s\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}t\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}u$ performance optimization of electronics. Compared to traditional components, voltage-controlled magnetoelectric inductors based on ferromagnetic-ferroelectric composites are efficient and highly integrated. Previous efforts have exploited the linear piezoelectric effect, a volatile behavior, but here the authors use the large residual strain induced by ferroelastic domain switching to realize a $n\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}o\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}n\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}v\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}o\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}l\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}a\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}t\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}l\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}e$ inductor with 250% tunability. This work expands the horizons of multiferroic devices, power electronics, and rf/microwave systems, for academia and industry.