Magnetoelectric effects in piezoelectric/soft magnetic amorphous FeCo-based ribbon composites

Abstract

Magnetoelectric effect has been investigated in several multiferroic laminates generated by inserting a lead-zirconate titanate PZT plate between sheets of highly soft magnetic amorphous FeCo-based alloy ribbon. The results show that the magnetoelectric coefficient αE (= dE/dH) depends on the rest glass-forming elements as well as the concentration of Co substitution. Giant magnetoelectric is found for the composite of Fe 73.5Cu1Nb3B9Si13.5 ribbon, where αE as high as 1000 mV/cmOe at low field of 50 Oe. aE can be further improved up to 1170 mV/cmOe at 20% Fe substituted by Co. The higher the Co concentration, the lower magnetoelectric effect is observed. High magnetoelectricty at low field makes these composites suitable for special applications such as smart sensors for detecting microtesla magnetic fields and especially biosensor for magnetic label detection. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.