Converse Magnetoelectric Effect in a Fe-Ga/PMN-PT Laminated Multiferroic Heterostructure for Field Generator Applications

We design a multiferroic laminated heterostructure composed of a Fe-Ga magnetostrictive layer and a PMN-PT piezoelectric layer and examine the converse magnetoelectric effect (CME). Such a heterostructure is potentially useful as a magnetic field generator, which can be used in the tuning of microwave devices. Magnetization, magnetic coercivity, remanence, and squareness exhibit pronounced hysteretic behavior and potential for tuning with an applied electric field. We obtain alpha(E) = 12.5 Oe cm kV(-1). The deformation of the PMN-PT under an applied electric field results in an internal stress-induced magnetic field, with an experimentally determined value of similar to 100 Oe. The tunable range of fringe fields generated by the stress-induced field is predicted to be 104 Oe. The results will establish a foundation in the design of E-field tunable magnetic devices.