• Ceramist
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.38-53
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• 2020

Magnetoelectric (ME) composites composed of magnetostrictive and piezoelectric materials derive interfacial coupling of magnetoelectric conversion between magnetic and electric properties, thus enabling to detect ultra-low magnetic field. To improve the performance of ME composite sensors, various research teams have explored adopting highly efficient magnetostrictive and piezoelectric phases, tailoring of device geometry/structure, and developing signal process technique. As a result, latest ME composites have achieved not only outstanding ME conversion coefficient but also sensing of ultra-low magnetic field below 1pT. This article reviews the recent research trend of ME composites for sensing of ultra-low magnetic field.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.611-614
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• 2018

Laminate composites composed of $0.95Pb(Zr_{0.52}Ti_{0.48})O_3-0.05Pb(Mn_{1/3}Sb_{2/3})O_3$ piezoelectric ceramic and Fe-Si-B based magnetostrictive amorphous alloy are fabricated, and the effect of control of the areal dimensions and the thickness of the piezoelectric layer on the magnetoelectric(ME) properties of the laminate composites is studied. As the aspect ratio of the piezoelectric layer and the magnetostrictive layer increases, the maximum value of the ME voltage coefficient(${\alpha}_{ME}$) increases and the intensity of the DC magnetic field at which the maximum ${\alpha}_{ME}$ value appears decreases. Moreover, as the thickness of the piezoelectric layer decreases, ${\alpha}_{ME}$ tends to increase. The ME composites exhibit ${\alpha}_{ME}$ values higher than $1Vcm^{-1}Oe^{-1}$ even at the non-resonance frequency of 1 kHz. This study shows that, apart from the inherent characteristics of the piezoelectric composition, small thicknesses and high aspect ratios of the piezoelectric layer are important dimensional determinants for achieving high ME performance of the piezoelectric-magnetostrictive laminate composite.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.157-160
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• 2011

The magnetostrictive material is magnetized in magnetic field and produces a nonuniform demagnetizing field inside and outside it. The demagnetization is decided by the permeability of magnetostrictive material and its size. The magnetoelectric performances are determined by the synthesis of the applied and demagnetizing fields. An analytical model is proposed to predict the magnetoelectric voltage coefficient (MEVC) of magnetostrictive/piezoelectric laminate composite using equivalent circuit method, in which the nonuniform demagnetizing field is taken into account. The theoretical and experimental results indicate that the MEVC is positively connected with the permeability and the piezomagnetic coefficient of magnetostrictive material. To obtain the maximum MEVC, both the permeability and the piezomagnetic coefficient of magnetostrictive material should be taken into account in selecting the suitable magnetostrictive material.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.333-341
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• 2022

Magnetoelectric (ME) composites are comprised of magnetostrictive and piezoelectric phases. Lots of theoretical and experimental works have been done on ME composites in the last couple of decades. The output performance of ME composites has been enhanced by optimizing the constituent phases, interface layer, dimensions of the ME composites, different operating modes, etc. However, the detailed information about the characterization of ME coupling in ME composites is not provided yet. Therefore, in this tutorial paper, we are giving an insight into the details of measurements of ME voltage coefficient of ME composites both at off-resonance and resonance conditions. A symmetric type Gelfenol/PMN-PZT/Gelfenol ME composites were fabricated by sandwiching (011) 32-mode PMN-PZT single crystal between two Galfenol plates by epoxy bonding are used for the example of ME coupling measurement. The details about the experimental setup used for the measurement of ME voltage coefficient are provided. Furthermore, a step-by-step measurement of ME voltage coefficient using computerized program is demonstrated. We believe the present experimental measurement details can help readers to understand the concept of ME coupling and its analysis.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.211-215
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• 2011

The dynamic magnetostriction characteristics of an Fe-based nanocrystalline FeCuNbSiB alloy are investigated as a function of the dc bias magnetic field. The experimental results show that the piezomagnetic coefficient of FeCuNbSiB is about 2.1 times higher than that of Terfenol-D at the low dc magnetic bias $H_{dc}$ = 46 Oe. Moreover, FeCuNbSiB has a large resonant dynamic strain coefficient at quite low Hdc due to a high mechanical quality factor, which is 3-5 times greater than that of Terfenol-D at the same low $H_{dc}$. Based on such magnetostriction characteristics, we fabricate a new type of transducer with FeCuNbSiB/PZT-8/FeCuNbSiB. Its maximum resonant magnetoelectric voltage coefficient achieves ~10 V/Oe. The ME output power reaches 331.8 ${\mu}W$ at an optimum load resistance of 7 $k{\Omega}$ under 0.4 Oe ac magnetic field, which is 50 times higher than that of the previous ultrasonic-horn-substrate composite transducer and it decreases the size by nearly 86%. The performance indicate that the FeCuNbSiB/PZT-8/FeCuNbSiB transducer is promising for application in highly efficient magnetoelectric energy conversion.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.480-486
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• 2021

Magnetoelectric (ME) composite is composed of a piezoelectric material and a magnetostrictive material. Among various ME structures, 2-2 type layered ME composites are anticipated to be used as high-sensitivity magnetic field sensors and energy harvesting devices especially operating at its resonance modes. Rosen type piezoelectric transducer using piezoelectric material is known to amplify a small electrical input voltage to a large electrical output voltage. The output voltage of these Rosen type piezoelectric transducers can be further enhanced by modifying them into ME composite structures. Herein, we fabricated Rosen type ME composites by sandwiching Rosen type PMN-PZT single crystal between two Ni layers and studied their ME coupling. However, the voltage step-up ratio at the resonance frequency was found to be smaller than the value calculated with α_ME value. The ATILA FEA (Finite Elements Analysis) simulation results showed that the position of the nodal point was changed with the presence of a magnetostrictive layer. Thus, while designing a Rosen type ME composite with high performance in a resonant driving situation, it is necessary to optimize the position of the nodal point by optimizing the thickness or length of the magnetostrictive layer.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.116-124
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• 2024

In this study, we investigated the microstructure and piezoelectric properties of 0.96(K_0.456Na_0.536)Nb_0.95Sb_0.05-0.04Bi_0.5(Na_0.82K_0.18)_0.5ZrO₃ (KNNS-BNKZ) ceramics based on one-step and two-step sintering processes. One-step sintering led to significant abnormal grain (AG) growth at temperatures above 1,085 ℃. With increasing sintering temperature, piezoelectric and dielectric properties were enhanced, resulting in a high d₃₃ = 506 pC/N for one-step specimen sintered at 1,100 ℃ (one-step 1,100 ℃ specimen). However, for one-step 1,115 ℃ specimen, a slight decrease in d₃₃ was observed, emphasizing the importance of a high tetragonal (T) phase fraction for superior piezoelectric properties. Achieving a relative density above 84 % for samples sintered by the one-step sintering process was challenging. Conversely, two-step sintering significantly improved the relative density of KNNS-BNKZ ceramics up to 96 %, attributed to the control of AG nucleation in the first step and grain growth rate control in the second step. The quantity of AG nucleation was affected by the duration of the first step, determining the final microstructure. Despite having a lower T phase fraction than that of the one-step 1,100 ℃ specimen, the two-step specimen exhibited higher piezoelectric coefficients (d₃₃ = 574 pC/N and k_p = 0.5) than those of the one-step 1,100 ℃ specimen due to its higher relative density. Performance evaluation of magnetoelectric composite devices composed of one-step and two-step specimens showed that despite having a higher g₃₃, the magnetoelectric composite with the one-step 1,100 ℃ specimen exhibited the lowest magnetoelectric voltage coefficient, due to its lowest k_p. This study highlights the essential role of phase fraction and relative density in enhancing the performance of piezoelectric materials and devices, showcasing the effectiveness of the two-step sintering process for controlling the microstructure of ceramic materials containing volatile elements.