Magnetic properties and magnetoelectric effect in Ni0.8Co0.1Cu0.1Fe2O4 + PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 composites

Composites with compositions x (Ni0.8Co0.1Cu0.1Fe2O4) + (1−x) PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 (x-mole fraction varies as 0.15, 0.25, 0.35 and 0.45) were prepared by standard ceramic method. The presence of constituent phases, namely ferrite and the ferroelectric were confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The structural analyses were carried out using the obtained powder pattern X-ray data. The porosity of the samples was calculated and the values obtained lie between 10% to 19%. To date, the variations in the magnetic properties with variation in ferrite phase in composites and thereby its influence on magnetoelectric effect is not yet reported. The saturation magnetization (Ms) and magnetic moment (ηB) in Bohr magneton were calculated for all the composites. The static value of magnetoelectric voltage coefficient (dE/dH) was measured as a function of intensity of magnetic field. The maximum value of ME coefficient was observed for a composite with 35% ferrite + 65% ferroelectric phase.