Giant electric field-induced strain in lead-free piezoceramics.

Piezoelectric actuators are indispensable over a wide range of industries for their fast response and precise displacement. Most commercial piezoelectric actuators contain lead, posing environmental challenges. We show that a giant strain (1.05%) and a large-signal piezoelectric strain coefficient (2100 picometer/volt) are achieved in strontium (Sr)-doped (K,Na)NbO3 lead-free piezoceramics, being synthesized by the conventional solid-state reaction method without any post treatment. The underlying mechanism responsible for the ultrahigh electrostrain is the interaction between defect dipoles and domain switching. The fatigue resistance, thermal stability, and strain value (0.25%) at 20 kilovolt/centimeter are comparable with or better than those of commercial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3-based ceramics, showing great potential for practical applications. This material may provide a lead-free alternative with a simple composition for piezoelectric actuators and a paradigm for the design of high-performance piezoelectrics.

Estimation of the Intrinsic Power Efficiency in Magnetoelectric Laminates Using Temperature Measurements.

Magnetoelectric (ME) power efficiency is a more important property than the ME voltage or the current coefficients for power conversion applications. This paper introduces an analytical model that describes the relation between the external magnetic field and the power efficiency in layered ME composites. It is a two-phase model. The first fragment establishes the expression between the magnetic field strength and the temperature increase within an operating period. It uses a magneto-elasto-electric equivalent circuit model that was developed by Dong et al. Following previous investigations; the main loss source is the mechanical power dissipation. The second fragment links the power efficiency and the temperature increase in a heat-balanced system. This method is generally used by researchers in the piezoelectric field. The analytical model and the experimental data shows that the decrease of the power efficiency in a laminated composite is between 5% and 10% for a power density of 10 W/in3 (0.61 W/cm3) to 30 W/in3 (1.83 W/cm3). The failure mechanism/process of ME composites under high power density can be estimated/monitored by the proposed method for ME composites in practical applications.

Conductivitylike Gilbert Damping due to Intraband Scattering in Epitaxial Iron.

Confirming the origin of Gilbert damping by experiment has remained a challenge for many decades, even for simple ferromagnetic metals. Here, we experimentally identify Gilbert damping that increases with decreasing electronic scattering in epitaxial thin films of pure Fe. This observation of conductivitylike damping, which cannot be accounted for by classical eddy-current loss, is in excellent quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions of Gilbert damping due to intraband scattering. Our results resolve the long-standing question about a fundamental damping mechanism and offer hints for engineering low-loss magnetic metals for cryogenic spintronics and quantum devices.

Mechanical-Induced Polarization Switching in Relaxor Ferroelectric Single Crystals.

Control of coupling between electric and elastic orders in ferroelectric bulks is vital to understand their nature and enrich the multifunctionality of polarization manipulation applied in domain-based electronic devices such as ferroelectric memories and data storage ones. Herein, taking (1 - x%)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-x%PbTiO3 (PMN-x%PT, x = 32, 40) as the prototype, we demonstrate the less-explored mechanical switching in relaxor ferroelectric single crystals using scanning probe microscopy. Low mechanical forces can induce metastable and electrically erasable polarization reversal clearly from electrical-created bipolar domains around the 180° domain wall in monoclinic PMN-32%PT and inside the c+ domain in tetragonal PMN-40%PT. The mechanical switching evolutions show force/time dependence and time-force equivalence. The time-dependent mechanical switching behavior stems from the participation and contribution of polar nanoregions. Flexoelectricity and bulk Vegard strain effect can account for the mechanical switching but notably, the former in the two has very different origins. These investigations exhibit the possibility of mechanical switching as a tool to manipulate polarization states in ferroelectric bulks, and provide the potential of these crystals as substrates in mechanical polarization control of future thin-film devices.

A Low Frequency Mechanical Transmitter Based on Magnetoelectric Heterostructures Operated at Their Resonance Frequency.

Magneto-elasto-electric (ME) coupling heterostructures, consisting of piezoelectric layers bonded to magnetostrictive ones, provide for a new class of electromagnetic emitter materials on which a portable (area ~ 16 cm²) very low frequency (VLF) transmitter technology could be developed. The proposed ME transmitter functions as follows: (a) a piezoelectric layer is first driven by alternating current AC electric voltage at its electromechanical resonance (EMR) frequency, (b) subsequently, this EMR excites the magnetostrictive layers, giving rise to magnetization change, (c) in turn, the magnetization oscillations result in oscillating magnetic fields. By Maxwell's equations, a corresponding electric field, is also generated, leading to electromagnetic field propagation. Our hybrid piezoelectric-magnetostrictive transformer can take an input electric voltage that may include modulation-signal over a carrier frequency and transmit via oscillating magnetic field or flux change. The prototype measurements reveal a magnetic dipole like near field, demonstrating its transmission capabilities. Furthermore, the developed prototype showed a 104 times higher efficiency over a small-circular loop of the same area, exhibiting its superiority over the class of traditional small antennas.

Nanopillars with E-field accessible multi-state (N ≥ 4) magnetization having giant magnetization changes in self-assembled BiFeO3-CoFe2O4/Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)-38at%PbTiO3 heterostructures.

We have deposited self-assembled BiFeO3-CoFe2O4 (BFO-CFO) thin films on (100)-oriented SrRuO3-buffered Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.62Ti0.38O3 (PMN-38PT) single crystal substrates. These heterostructures were used for the study of real-time changes in the magnetization with applied DC electric field (E DC ). With increasing E DC , a giant magnetization change was observed along the out-of-plane (easy) axis. The induced magnetization changes of the CFO nanopillars in the BFO/CFO layer were about ΔM/M rDC = 93% at E DC = -3 kv/cm. A giant converse magnetoelectric (CME) coefficient of 1.3 × 10-7 s/m was estimated from the data. By changing E DC , we found multiple(N ≥ 4) unique possible values of a stable magnetization with memory on the removal of the field.

Magnetoelectric quasi-(0-3) nanocomposite heterostructures.

Magnetoelectric composite thin films hold substantial promise for applications in novel multifunctional devices. However, there are presently shortcomings for both the extensively studied bilayer epitaxial (2-2) and vertically architectured nanocomposite (1-3) film systems, restricting their applications. Here we design a novel growth strategy to fabricate an architectured nanocomposite heterostructure with magnetic quasiparticles (0) embedded in a ferroelectric film matrix (3) by alternately growing (2-2) and (1-3) layers within the film. The new heteroepitaxial films not only overcome the clamping effect from substrate, but also significantly suppress the leakage current paths through the ferromagnetic phase. We demonstrate, by focusing on switching characteristics of the piezoresponse, that the heterostructure shows magnetic field dependence of piezoelectricity due to the improved coupling enabled by good connectivity amongst the piezoelectric and magnetostrictive phases. This new architectured magnetoelectric heterostructures may open a new avenue for applications of magnetoelectric films in micro-devices.

Anatomy of vertical heteroepitaxial interfaces reveals the memristive mechanism in Nb2O5-NaNbO3 thin films.

Dynamic oxygen vacancies play a significant role in memristive switching materials and memristors can be realized via well controlled doping. Based on this idea we deposite Nb2O5-NaNbO3 nanocomposite thin films on SrRuO3-buffered LaAlO3 substrates. Through the spontaneous phase separation and self-assembly growth, two phases form clear vertical heteroepitaxial nanostructures. The interfaces between niobium oxide and sodium niobate full of ion vacancies form the conductive channels. Alternative I-V behavior attributed to dynamic ion migration reveals the memristive switching mechanism under the external bias. We believe that this phenomenon has a great potential in future device applications.

Giant strain with ultra-low hysteresis and high temperature stability in grain oriented lead-free K0.5Bi0.5TiO3-BaTiO3-Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 piezoelectric materials.

We synthesized grain-oriented lead-free piezoelectric materials in (K0.5Bi0.5TiO3-BaTiO3-xNa0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (KBT-BT-NBT) system with high degree of texturing along the [001]c (c-cubic) crystallographic orientation. We demonstrate giant field induced strain (~0.48%) with an ultra-low hysteresis along with enhanced piezoelectric response (d33 ~ 190pC/N) and high temperature stability (~160°C). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) results demonstrate smaller size highly ordered domain structure in grain-oriented specimen relative to the conventional polycrystalline ceramics. The grain oriented specimens exhibited a high degree of non-180° domain switching, in comparison to the randomly axed ones. These results indicate the effective solution to the lead-free piezoelectric materials.

Magnetoelectric assisted 180° magnetization switching for electric field addressable writing in magnetoresistive random-access memory.

Magnetization-based memories, e.g., hard drive and magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM), use bistable magnetic domains in patterned nanomagnets for information recording. Electric field (E) tunable magnetic anisotropy can lower the energy barrier between two distinct magnetic states, promising reduced power consumption and increased recording density. However, integration of magnetoelectric heterostructure into MRAM is a highly challenging task owing to the particular architecture requirements of each component. Here, we show an epitaxial growth of self-assembled CoFe2O4 nanostripes with bistable in-plane magnetizations on Pb(Mg,Nb)O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) substrates, where the magnetic switching can be triggered by E-induced elastic strain effect. An unprecedented magnetic coercive field change of up to 600 Oe was observed with increasing E. A near 180° magnetization rotation can be activated by E in the vicinity of the magnetic coercive field. These findings might help to solve the 1/2-selection problem in traditional MRAM by providing reduced magnetic coercive field in E field selected memory cells.

Engineered magnetic shape anisotropy in BiFeO3-CoFe2O4 self-assembled thin films.

We report growth of various phase architectures of self-assembled BiFeO3-CoFe2O4 (BFO-CFO) thin films on differently oriented SrTiO3 (STO) substrates. CFO forms segregated square, stripe, and triangular nanopillars embedded in a coherent BFO matrix on (001)-, (110)-, and (111)-oriented STO substrates, respectively. Nanostructures with an aspect ratio of up to 5:1 with a prominent magnetic anisotropy were obtained on both (001) and (110) STO along out-of-plane and in-plane directions. Magnetic easy axis rotation from in-plane to out-of-plane directions was realized through aspect ratio control. An intractable in-plane anisotropy was fixed in CFO on (111) STO due to the triangular shape of the ferromagnetic phase nanopillars. These studies established a detailed relationship of magnetic anisotropy with specific shape and dimensions of ordered magnetic arrays. The results suggest a way to effectively control the magnetic anisotropy in patterned ferromagnetic oxide arrays with tunable shape, aspect ratio, and elastic strain conditions of the nanostructures.

Equivalent magnetic noise in multi- push-pull configuration magnetoelectric composites: model and experiment.

A theoretical model for the multi-push-pull configuration of magnetoelectric (ME) laminated composites comprising magnetostrictive and piezoelectric layers with interdigitated electrodes encapsulated in polyimide film is presented. Analytical solutions for the ME voltage coefficient αE, ME charge coefficient αQ, noise charge density and equivalent magnetic noise were derived. Parametric studies are presented to evaluate the influence of material properties and polyimide film geometries. The results show that the value of αE was determined by the parameters of the magnetostrictive and piezoelectric phases, and that the values of αQ and noise charge density were determined not only by the component parameters, but also by the volume fraction of the piezoelectric phase and polyimide film geometry. The equivalent magnetic noise had no dependence on the polyimide film geometry, but rather was determined by the component parameters and the volume fraction of the piezoelectric phase. Theoretical and experimental results are compared and shown to have good agreement with each other.

Metglas/Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 magnetoelectric gradiometric sensor with high detection sensitivity.

We developed a novel biaxial magnetoelectric (ME) gradiometer sensor system using Metglas/ Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))O(3)-PbTiO(3) laminates for investigation of ac magnetic dipole detection. We demonstrate a detection sensitivity of 20 pT/√Hz in an open environment (unshielded) at quasi-static frequencies with a noise rejection efficiency of 23.5 dB, relative to a uniform external noise. In addition, a signal processing method was used to compute the magnetic field amplitude at a driven frequency of 7 Hz, and the results were also verified by theory. Practical testing and mathematical predictions show that there are only 7.2% and 4.2% gradiometric measurement errors in the x- and y-axis gradiometer components, enabling high-precision target detection.

Self-amplified magnetoelectric properties in a dumbbell-shaped magnetostrictive/piezoelectric composite.

We report magnetoelectric (ME) properties in a dumbbell-shaped metallic glass alloy/Pb(Zr(x)Ti(1-x))O(3) laminated composite, yielding a magnetic field amplification resulting from magnetic flux concentration effects of the dumbbell-shaped design. Compared with the traditional rectangular structures, the modified geometry results in an effective improvement in the ME coefficient, a significant decrease in the required dc magnetic bias field, and an enhancement in magnetic field sensitivity.

Magnetoelectric bending-mode structure based on Metglas/Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 fiber laminates.

A magnetoelectric (ME) bending-mode structure based on Metglas/Pb(Zr,Ti)O(3) fiber laminates has been studied. This bending mode had a fundamental resonance (FBR) of about 210 Hz, which was much lower than that of the longitudinal mode. Near the FBR, the ME voltage coefficient was about 400 V/cm·Oe. Magnetic sensors based on this bending mode had an equivalent magnetic noise floor of ≤ 0.3 pT/√Hz at f = 210 Hz.

Interaction of gold nanoparticles in barium titanate thin films.

A novel approach to control the grain size of oxide thin film materials has been investigated. Perovskite BaTiO(3) shows interesting grain structures when deposited on gold predeposited, (111)-oriented, single-crystal SrTiO(3) substrates. Solid oxide films grow epitaxially on patterned seed layers and show variations in grain size relative to the films deposited on SrTiO(3) directly.

Tunable features of magnetoelectric transformers.

We have found that magnetostrictive FeBSiC alloy ribbons laminated with piezoelectric Pb(Zr,Ti)O(3) fiber can act as a tunable transformer when driven under resonant conditions. These composites were also found to exhibit the strongest resonant magnetoelectric voltage coefficient of 750 V/cm-Oe. The tunable features were achieved by applying small dc magnetic biases of -5

Analytical solutions for the transverse deflection of a piezoelectric circular axisymmetric unimorph actuator.

This paper presents analytical solutions to the transverse deformation shape of a circular axisymmetric piezoelectric-metal composite unimorph actuator. The solutions account for both the influence of an applied electric field and a concentrated or uniformly distributed mechanical load. Using piezoelectric constitutive equations, combined with thin plate and small bending elastic theory, the generalized equation of motion for bending of thin piezoelectric-metal composite plates has been derived. Our approach predicts that there is an optimum thickness ratio between the piezoelectric and metal plates, which leads to a maximum combination of deflection and load carrying capabilities. Derived formulas are very simple that offer a quick method for engineering design and optimization of a circular unimorph piezoelectric actuator.

Longitudinal and transverse magnetoelectric voltage coefficients of magnetostrictive/piezoelectric laminate composite: experiments.

Magnetostrictive Terfenol-D (Tb(x)Dy(1-x)Fe2) and piezoelectric (Pb(Zr(1-x)Ti(x))O3) magnetoelectric (ME) laminate composites have been investigated experimentally for various modes of operation: longitudinal magnetized/longitudinal polarized (L-L mode), transverse magnetized/longitudinal polarized (T-L mode), and transverse magnetized/transverse polarized (T-T mode) ME modes. We report their experimentally determined performance characteristics based on our previously developed equivalent circuits for these various modes. Predicted and experimental results are in agreement that the L-L mode laminates have enhanced ME effects, and that, under low or zero magnetic bias, the L-L mode ME voltage coefficients are up to a factor of 5-20x higher than those of the T-L mode or T-T mode laminates. The maximum ME voltage coefficient of the L-L mode laminates is over 86 mV/Oe under a bias of 500 Oe.