A ferroelectric crystal exhibits a stable and switchable electrical polarization that is manifested in the form of cooperative atomic displacements. A ferromagnetic crystal exhibits a stable and switchable magnetization that arises through the quantum mechanical phenomenon of exchange. There are very few 'multiferroic' materials that exhibit both of these properties, but the 'magnetoelectric' coupling of magnetic and electrical properties is a more general and widespread phenomenon. Although work in this area can be traced back to pioneering research in the 1950s and 1960s, there has been a recent resurgence of interest driven by long-term technological aspirations.

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Multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials

Enhancement of polarization and related properties in heteroepitaxially constrained thin films of the ferroelectromagnet, BiFeO3, is reported. Structure analysis indicates that the crystal structure of film is monoclinic in contrast to bulk, which is rhombohedral. The films display a room-temperature spontaneous polarization (50 to 60 microcoulombs per square centimeter) almost an order of magnitude higher than that of the bulk (6.1 microcoulombs per square centimeter). The observed enhancement is corroborated by first-principles calculations and found to originate from a high sensitivity of the polarization to small changes in lattice parameters. The films also exhibit enhanced thickness-dependent magnetism compared with the bulk. These enhanced and combined functional responses in thin film form present an opportunity to create and implement thin film devices that actively couple the magnetic and ferroelectric order parameters.

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Epitaxial BiFeO3 multiferroic thin film heterostructures.

Recent research activities on the linear magnetoelectric (ME) effect?induction of magnetization by an electric field or of polarization by a magnetic field?are reviewed. Beginning with a brief summary of the history of the ME effect since its prediction in 1894, the paper focuses on the present revival of the effect. Two major sources for 'large' ME effects are identified. (i) In composite materials the ME effect is generated as a product property of a magnetostrictive and a piezoelectric compound. A linear ME polarization is induced by a weak ac magnetic field oscillating in the presence of a strong dc bias field. The ME effect is large if the ME coefficient coupling the magnetic and electric fields is large. Experiments on sintered granular composites and on laminated layers of the constituents as well as theories on the interaction between the constituents are described. In the vicinity of electromechanical resonances a ME voltage coefficient of up to 90?V?cm?1?Oe?1 is achieved, which exceeds the ME response of single-phase compounds by 3?5 orders of magnitude. Microwave devices, sensors, transducers and heterogeneous read/write devices are among the suggested technical implementations of the composite ME effect. (ii) In multiferroics the internal magnetic and/or electric fields are enhanced by the presence of multiple long-range ordering. The ME effect is strong enough to trigger magnetic or electrical phase transitions. ME effects in multiferroics are thus 'large' if the corresponding contribution to the free energy is large. Clamped ME switching of electrical and magnetic domains, ferroelectric reorientation induced by applied magnetic fields and induction of ferromagnetic ordering in applied electric fields were observed. Mechanisms favouring multiferroicity are summarized, and multiferroics in reduced dimensions are discussed. In addition to composites and multiferroics, novel and exotic manifestations of ME behaviour are investigated. This includes (i) optical second harmonic generation as a tool to study magnetic, electrical and ME properties in one setup and with access to domain structures; (ii) ME effects in colossal magnetoresistive manganites, superconductors and phosphates of the LiMPO4 type; (iii) the concept of the toroidal moment as manifestation of a ME dipole moment; (iv) pronounced ME effects in photonic crystals with a possibility of electromagnetic unidirectionality. The review concludes with a summary and an outlook to the future development of magnetoelectrics research.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/38/8/R01/pdf

Revival of the Magnetoelectric Effect

The piezoelectric properties of relaxor based ferroelectric single crystals, such as Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 and Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 were investigated for electromechanical actuators. In contrast to polycrystalline materials such as Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, morphotropic phase boundary compositions were not essential for high piezoelectric strain. Piezoelectric coefficients (d33’s)>2500 pC/N and subsequent strain levels up to >0.6% with minimal hysteresis were observed. Crystallographically, high strains are achieved for 〈001〉 oriented rhombohedral crystals, although 〈111〉 is the polar direction. Ultrahigh strain levels up to 1.7%, an order of magnitude larger than those available from conventional piezoelectric and electrostrictive ceramics, could be achieved being related to an E-field induced phase transformation. High electromechanical coupling (k33)>90% and low dielectric loss <1%, along with large strain make these crystals promising candidates for high performance solid state actuators.

Ultrahigh strain and piezoelectric behavior in relaxor based ferroelectric single crystals

BiFeO3 is perhaps the only material that is both magnetic and a strong ferroelectric at room temperature. As a result, it has had an impact on the field of multiferroics that is comparable to that of yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) on superconductors, with hundreds of publications devoted to it in the past few years. In this Review, we try to summarize both the basic physics and unresolved aspects of BiFeO3 (which are still being discovered with several new phase transitions reported in the past few months) and device applications, which center on spintronics and memory devices that can be addressed both electrically and magnetically.

Physics and Applications of Bismuth Ferrite

During the last several years novel piezoelectric bending actuators have been developed: RAINBOW, CERAMBOW, CRESCENT, d 3 3 bimorph and THUNDER A comparative experimental investigation of electromechanical characteristicsof these devices along with conventional d 3 1 bimorph and unimorph actuators was conducted in this work. All transducers were fabricated from soft piezoelectric ceramics. The experimental results show that d 3 3 bimorph and unimorph elements have superior quasistatic characteristics as compared to other type of bending-mode actuators. All these piezoelectric devices demonstrate a significant dependence of electromechanical performance on the magnitude of the driving electric field. It was found that the decrease in the mechanical quality factor and resonant frequency of bending vibrations in d 3 1 unimorph, RAINBOW, CRESCENT (CERAMBOW) and THUNDER with increasing electric field is much smaller than that in bimorph and d 3 3 unimorph actuators. The dependence of the behavior of these devices on the operating conditions governs the selection of a particular device for a specific application.

A comparative analysis of piezoelectric bending-mode actuators

Ferroelectric SBN single crystals Sr61Ba39Nb2O6 approximately one inch in diameter have successfully been grown Piezoelectric, high frequency dielectric and surface acoustic wave properties of the SBN crystals have been examined and are reported

Tungsten bronze family crystals for acoustical and dielectric application

Note: Setter, N Penn State Univ,Mat Res Lab,University Pk,Pa 16802Kp039Times Cited:28Cited References Count:7 Reference LC-ARTICLE-1980-002 Record created on 2006-08-21, modified on 2017-05-10

Pressure dependence of the dielectric properties of Pb(Sc1Ta1/2)O3B

The dielectric and electromechanical coupling properties of Sm-doped and Mn-doped PbTiO/sub 3/ ceramics were investigated from 4.2 to 300 K. The upper and lower limits of the ceramic dielectric and piezoelectric properties were calculated by averaging the single-domain constants that were determined from a phenomenological theory. Comparisons of the measured and calculated properties were then made. The measured dielectric permittivity epsilon /sup T//sub 33/ and piezoelectric strain coefficient d/sub 33/ appear to be mainly due to the averaging of the intrinsic single-domain response. The large piezoelectric and electromechanical anisotropies present in modified PbTiO/sub 3/ ceramics also appear to be an intrinsic property of the material. The piezoelectric coefficient d/sub 31/, as well as the planar coupling coefficient k/sub p/, was found to have very small values over two temperature regions, from 120 to 170 K and from 240 to 270 K. >

Temperature behavior of dielectric and piezoelectric properties of samarium-doped lead titanate ceramics

Ceramic dielectrics which have been fabricated in the Pb(Mg1/3 Nb2/3)O3:PbTiO3:Ba(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 composition system are shown to exhibit two distinct dielectric maxima, both of which show the characteristic loss spectra of ferroelectrics with diffuse phase transitions. The height of the individual maxima can be controlled by the Zn:Mg ratio in the starting material and, in suitably chosen compositions, a wide range of almost temperature-independent high dielectric permittivity is possible. These dielectrics show strong electrostrictive deformations under high electric fields but the electrostrictive strain is much less temperature-sensitive than in other relaxors.

L. E. Cross

Papers

A comparative analysis of piezoelectric bending-mode actuators

Tungsten bronze family crystals for acoustical and dielectric application

Pressure dependence of the dielectric properties of Pb(Sc1Ta1/2)O3B

Temperature behavior of dielectric and piezoelectric properties of samarium-doped lead titanate ceramics

Dielectric and Electrostrictive Properties of Ferroelectric Relaxors in the System Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3:PbTiO3: Ba(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3