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.

/pdf/epitaxial-bifeo3-multiferroic-thin-film-heterostructures-2ns67gte2l.pdf

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

Sol-gel-derived ferroelectric thin films of PZT (lead zirconate titanate) and PLZT (lead lanthanum zirconate titanate) have been successfully processed using internal heating with microwave energy. Pyrolysis and crystallization of films in the microwave field were fast, and showed good selectivity. The nature of xerogel plays an important role in the pyrolysis and crystallization of these films because of good coupling of the microwaves with these dipole-containing species. The microwave-processed films exhibit respectable dielectric and ferroelectric properties. >

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel3/1016/7437/00300696.pdf

Microwave assisted low temperature solid phase crystallization of ferroelectric thin films

Note: Penn State Univ,Mat Res Lab,University Pk,Pa 16802H1145Times Cited:0Cited References Count:0 Reference LC-ARTICLE-1987-002 Record created on 2006-08-21, modified on 2017-05-10

Possible Mechanisms for the Electromechanical Anisotropy in Modified Lead Titanate Ceramics

Preparation and dielectric properties of cubic perovskite A(Bx4Nb3x4Ti1−x)O3 (A = Ba or Sr, B = Na or Li)

Acoustic source used for Active Noise Control at low frequency (80 - 250 Hz) is designed and developed by using a piezoelectric ceramic actuator and a flextensional panel diaphragm. In order to reach the vibration magnitude and radiation area needed for high and flat sound pressure level in the low frequency range. Pseudo-Shear Universal (PSU) actuator has been used as the driving part which is a new type of multilayer piezoelectric actuator originated from MRL offering the advantages of large displacement and high blocking force; on the other hand, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composite has been used as the diaphragm material which provides a more rigid structure than conventional loudspeaker paper. A prototype device was fabricated which has the following characterizations: 40 layers PSU actuator with a compact dimension: 38 mm X 50 mm X 23.6 mm. Two of them are needed for a device. Diaphragm area is 126 mm X 152 mm. At quasistatic condition (5 Hz) and at the 0.84 kV/cm electric field, 344 micrometers displacement could be achieved at the apex of the diaphragm resulted from the flextensional amplifying mechanism with an amplification factor more than 11. The sound passive level in the frequency range 100 - 250 Hz shows better flat behavior than the acoustic sources studied earlier such as Double Amplifier and PANEL air transducers which exhibit a significant reduction of sound pressure level in the low frequency range. By a slight modification, it is likely to make this device in a total thickness of 10 - 15 mm range. High and stable sound pressure level as well as thin flat structure make it much more competitive in the whole area of applications for low frequency active noise control.

Pseudo-shear universal actuator driving flextensional-panel-diaphragm low-frequency acoustic source

Dielectric measurements in the temperature range of -20°C to 160°C have been performed on lanthanum doped lead zirconate titanate ceramic samples with rough ground, polished and chemically etched surfaces. It is found that the dielectric constants, dielectric loss, polarization and pyroelectric coefficient are the smallest in the ground samples and the largest in the etched samples. The difference is very pronounced near the permittivity maximum temperature Tmax. The measured dielectric constant was found to depend on sample thickness in the ground and polished samples but not in samples with etched surfaces. The results are explained in terms of a simple surface layer model. A nonferroelectric layer is produced during lapping, which has a dielectric constant of the order of 100 and the capacitance of this layer in the investigated temperature range is 0.2-0.7 μF/cm2. Through post-annealing, the contributions from the nonferroelectric nature of this surface layer and from the two dimensional tensile stres...

L. E. Cross

Papers

Microwave assisted low temperature solid phase crystallization of ferroelectric thin films

Possible Mechanisms for the Electromechanical Anisotropy in Modified Lead Titanate Ceramics

Preparation and dielectric properties of cubic perovskite A(Bx4Nb3x4Ti1−x)O3 (A = Ba or Sr, B = Na or Li)

Pseudo-shear universal actuator driving flextensional-panel-diaphragm low-frequency acoustic source

Effects of surface layers on the physical properties of lanthanum doped lead zirconate titanate ceramic