Enhancement of magnetoelectric coupling and anisotropy by Galfenol/PZT/Galfenol magnetoelectric sandwich device

In this work, we reported the large magnetoelectric coupling coefficient and magnetoelectric coupling anisotropy in Galfenol/PZT/Galfenol 2-2 symmetric magnetoelectric sandwich devices. The directional solidification method was used to produce a Galfenol alloy with < 001 > orientation, which possesses a significant magneto-striction of 279 ppm and a piezomagnetic coefficient of 14.8 ppm/Oe. A magnetoelectric coupling laminate of Galfenol/PZT/Galfenol was also prepared. The magnetoelectric coupling coefficient can reach 55.0 V/cm Oe at the resonance frequency under a 0.35 Oe AC excitation magnetic field due to the significant magnetostriction and high piezomagnetic coefficient. Furthermore, there was excellent linearity and sensitivity between the magne-toelectric output voltage and the AC excitation magnetic field. Simultaneously, the device displayed in-plane magnetoelectric anisotropy and cosine variation as the magnetic field angle changed. At its resonance fre-quency, the device produced a maximum power of 1.4 mW. Finally, the device was shown to power 42 LEDs and a temperature/humidity sensor, demonstrating that the device with Galfenol/PZT/Galfenol sandwich structure has potential in magnetic field sensing and energy harvesting applications.