Study of electrical properties and the magnetoelectric effect in Ni0.2Co0.8Fe2O4 + PbZr0.8Ti0.2O3 particulate composites

The electric properties and magnetoelectric effect in magnetoelectric (ME) composites with composition (x) Ni0.2Co0.8Fe2O4 + (1 - x) PbZr0.8Ti0.2O3 (PZT-lead zirconate titanate) were studied. The presence of single- (x = 0 and 1) and bi-phases (x = 0.15, 0.30 and 0.45) in the composites was confirmed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. A structural analysis of the composites was carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements. Electric resistivity measurement as a function of temperature shows the semiconducting nature of the samples. The dielectric constant (epsilon') and loss tangent (tan delta) decrease rapidly at lower frequencies and remain constant at higher frequencies for all the samples. An AC conductivity measurement was used to discuss the conduction mechanism in all the samples. The ME voltage coefficient (dE/dH) H measured as a function of DC magnetic field gives the maximum ME output of 778 mu V cm(-1) Oe(-1) for 15% of ferrite in the composites.