Enhanced magnetoelectric effect in ferromagnetic-elastic-piezoelectric composites.

The non-magnetostrictive magnetoelectric (ME) effect was realized in a simple ferromagnetic-elastic-piezoelectric (FEP) composite. The FEP composite comprised two piezoceramic Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) plates and NdFeB magnets elastically coupled by a cantilever beam made of phosphor copper-sheet. The effects of the beam length on the ME coefficient and the linear relationship between the ME voltage output and the applied magnetic field at the resonant frequency were experimentally investigated. A notably superior ME coefficient of 3800 V/cm Oe at extremely low resonant frequency of 5.524 Hz was obtained for the FEP composite with the phosphor copper-sheet beam length of 8 cm. Such a composite structure shows the possibility to obtain a magnetic sensor element with ultrahigh sensitivity in low frequency range. The results are of great importance for the basic understanding of the new way to realize giant ME effect and the optimal design of such a composite structure with high ME coefficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]