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Physics, Measurements and Applications of Multiferroic and Magnetoelectric Materials

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2017) | Viewed by 41051

Special Issue Editor


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School of Mathematics & Physics, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Road, Burnaby Building, Office 2.13, Portsmouth PO1 3QL, UK
Interests: condensed matter physics research with emphasis on the fundamental properties and applications of ferroic and multiferroic materials; the development of novel measurement techniques; advanced data storage technologies and theoretical studies of non-equilibrium phenomena; fundamental physics and information physics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Materials science is a key factor in driving technological development and economic growth. Since the silicon industrial revolution of the 1950s, research and developments in materials science have radically impacted and transformed our society by enabling the emergence of computer technologies, wireless communications, Internet, digital data storage technologies and widespread consumer electronics. Today’s emergent topics in materials science research, such as nano-materials, carbon based grapheme and nano-tubes, smart and multifunctional materials, spintronic materials, bio-materials and multiferroic materials, promise to deliver a new wave of technological advances and economic impact, comparable to the silicon industrial revolution of the 1950s.

In particular, the recent surge of interest in multiferroic materials has been driven by their fascinating physical properties, as well as their huge potential for technological applications. This Special Issue of “Physics, Measurements and Applications of Multiferroic and Magnetoelectric Materials” will be a one-stop resource to the solid-state multiferroics and magneto-electric materials communities, providing a collection of high quality reviews and articles covering all research aspects of multiferroic materials including measurements, applications and modelling.

Dr. Melvin M. Vopson
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Multiferroic materials
  • Magneto-electric effect
  • Measurement of magneto-electric coupling effects
  • Composite multiferroics
  • Single phase multiferroics
  • Synthesis of multiferroic materials
  • Structural properties of multiferroics
  • Microcopy and microstructure of multiferroic materials  
  • Modelling of multiferroic materials
  • Applications of multiferroic and magneto-electric materials  

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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2935 KiB  
Article
Multiferroic Core-Shell Nanofibers, Assembly in a Magnetic Field, and Studies on Magneto-Electric Interactions
by Gollapudi Sreenivasulu, Jitao Zhang, Ru Zhang, Maksym Popov, Vladimir Petrov and Gopalan Srinivasan
Materials 2018, 11(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11010018 - 23 Dec 2017
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4754
Abstract
Ferromagnetic–ferroelectric nanocomposites are of interest for realizing strong strain-mediated coupling between electric and magnetic subsystems due to a high surface area-to-volume ratio. This report is on the synthesis of nickel ferrite (NFO)–barium titanate (BTO) core–shell nanofibers, magnetic field assisted assembly into superstructures, and [...] Read more.
Ferromagnetic–ferroelectric nanocomposites are of interest for realizing strong strain-mediated coupling between electric and magnetic subsystems due to a high surface area-to-volume ratio. This report is on the synthesis of nickel ferrite (NFO)–barium titanate (BTO) core–shell nanofibers, magnetic field assisted assembly into superstructures, and studies on magneto-electric (ME) interactions. Electrospinning techniques were used to prepare coaxial fibers of 0.5–1.5 micron in diameter. The core–shell structure of annealed fibers was confirmed by electron microscopy and scanning probe microscopy. The fibers were assembled into discs and films in a uniform magnetic field or in a field gradient. Studies on ME coupling in the assembled films and discs were done by magnetic field (H)-induced polarization, magneto–dielectric effects at low frequencies and at 16–24 GHz, and low-frequency ME voltage coefficients (MEVC). We measured ~2–7% change in remnant polarization and in the permittivity for H = 7 kOe, and a MEVC of 0.4 mV/cm Oe at 30 Hz. A model has been developed for low-frequency ME effects in an assembly of fibers and takes into account dipole–dipole interactions between the fibers and fiber discontinuity. Theoretical estimates for the low-frequency MEVC have been compared with the data. These results indicate strong ME coupling in superstructures of the core–shell fibers. Full article
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1768 KiB  
Article
Multiferroic Hysteresis Loop
by Alexander Ruff, Alois Loidl and Stephan Krohns
Materials 2017, 10(11), 1318; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10111318 - 17 Nov 2017
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 7361
Abstract
Multiferroics, showing both ferroelectric and magnetic order, are promising candidates for future electronic devices. Especially, the fundamental understanding of ferroelectric switching is of key relevance for further improvements, which however is rarely reported in literature. On a prime example for a spin-driven multiferroic, [...] Read more.
Multiferroics, showing both ferroelectric and magnetic order, are promising candidates for future electronic devices. Especially, the fundamental understanding of ferroelectric switching is of key relevance for further improvements, which however is rarely reported in literature. On a prime example for a spin-driven multiferroic, LiCuVO4, we present an extensive study of the ferroelectric order and the switching behavior as functions of external electric and magnetic fields. From frequency-dependent polarization switching and using the Ishibashi-Orihara theory, we deduce the existence of ferroelectric domains and domain-walls. These have to be related to counterclockwise and clockwise spin-spirals leading to the formation of multiferroic domains. A novel measurement—multiferroic hysteresis loop—is established to analyze the electrical polarization simultaneously as a function of electrical and magnetic fields. This technique allows characterizing the complex coupling between ferroelectric and magnetic order in multiferroic LiCuVO4. Full article
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6932 KiB  
Article
Temperature Dependence of the Resonant Magnetoelectric Effect in Layered Heterostructures
by Dmitrii A. Burdin, Nikolai A. Ekonomov, Dmitrii V. Chashin, Leonid Y. Fetisov, Yuri K. Fetisov and Mikhail Shamonin
Materials 2017, 10(10), 1183; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10101183 - 16 Oct 2017
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4831
Abstract
The dependence of the resonant direct magnetoelectric effect on temperature is studied experimentally in planar composite structures. Samples of rectangular shapes with dimensions of 5 mm × 20 mm employed ferromagnetic layers of either an amorphous (metallic glass) alloy or nickel with a [...] Read more.
The dependence of the resonant direct magnetoelectric effect on temperature is studied experimentally in planar composite structures. Samples of rectangular shapes with dimensions of 5 mm × 20 mm employed ferromagnetic layers of either an amorphous (metallic glass) alloy or nickel with a thickness of 20–200 μm and piezoelectric layers of single crystalline langatate material or lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric ceramics with a thickness of 500 μm. The temperature of the samples was varied in a range between 120 and 390 K by blowing a gaseous nitrogen stream around them. It is shown that the effective characteristics of the magnetoelectric effect—such as the mechanical resonance frequency fr, the quality factor Q and the magnitude of the magnetoelectric coefficient αE at the resonance frequency—are contingent on temperature. The interrelations between the temperature changes of the characteristics of the magnetoelectric effect and the temperature variations of the following material parameters—Young’s modulus Y, the acoustic quality factor of individual layers, the dielectric constant ε, the piezoelectric modulus d of the piezoelectric layer as well as the piezomagnetic coefficients λ(n) of the ferromagnetic layer—are established. The effect of temperature on the characteristics of the nonlinear magnetoelectric effect is observed for the first time. The results can be useful for designing magnetoelectric heterostructures with specified temperature characteristics, in particular, for the development of thermally stabilized magnetoelectric devices. Full article
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3523 KiB  
Article
Heat-Assisted Multiferroic Solid-State Memory
by Serban Lepadatu and Melvin M. Vopson
Materials 2017, 10(9), 991; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10090991 - 25 Aug 2017
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3836
Abstract
A heat-assisted multiferroic solid-state memory design is proposed and analysed, based on a PbNbZrSnTiO3 antiferroelectric layer and Ni81Fe19 magnetic free layer. Information is stored as magnetisation direction in the free layer of a magnetic tunnel junction element. The bit [...] Read more.
A heat-assisted multiferroic solid-state memory design is proposed and analysed, based on a PbNbZrSnTiO3 antiferroelectric layer and Ni81Fe19 magnetic free layer. Information is stored as magnetisation direction in the free layer of a magnetic tunnel junction element. The bit writing process is contactless and relies on triggering thermally activated magnetisation switching of the free layer towards a strain-induced anisotropy easy axis. A stress is generated using the antiferroelectric layer by voltage-induced antiferroelectric to ferroelectric phase change, and this is transmitted to the magnetic free layer by strain-mediated coupling. The thermally activated strain-induced magnetisation switching is analysed here using a three-dimensional, temperature-dependent magnetisation dynamics model, based on simultaneous evaluation of the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch equation and heat flow equation, together with stochastic thermal fields and magnetoelastic contributions. The magnetisation switching probability is calculated as a function of stress magnitude and maximum heat pulse temperature. An operating region is identified, where magnetisation switching always occurs, with stress values ranging from 80 to 180 MPa, and maximum temperatures normalised to the Curie temperature ranging from 0.65 to 0.99. Full article
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21827 KiB  
Article
The Microstructural Characterization of Multiferroic LaFeO3-YMnO3 Multilayers Grown on (001)- and (111)-SrTiO3 Substrates by Transmission Electron Microscopy
by Bin Pang, Lei Sun, Xuan Shen, Yang-Yang Lv, Xiao Li, Fei-Xiang Wu, Shu-Hua Yao, Jian Zhou, Shan-Tao Zhang and Y.B. Chen
Materials 2017, 10(7), 839; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10070839 - 21 Jul 2017
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4802
Abstract
The microstructure of multiferroic LaFeO3-YMnO3 (LFO-YMO) multilayers grown on (001)- and (111)-SrTiO3 substrates is characterized by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Detailed TEM characterization reveals that LFO-YMO multilayers grown on both substrates have clear layer-by-layer morphology and distinct chemical-composition [...] Read more.
The microstructure of multiferroic LaFeO3-YMnO3 (LFO-YMO) multilayers grown on (001)- and (111)-SrTiO3 substrates is characterized by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Detailed TEM characterization reveals that LFO-YMO multilayers grown on both substrates have clear layer-by-layer morphology and distinct chemical-composition layered structure. The most notable feature is that LFO-YMO multilayers grown on (001)-SrTiO3 substrate have three types of domains, while those on (111)-SrTiO3 have only one. The multi-/twin- domain structure can be qualitatively explained by the lattice mismatch in this system. The details of the domain structure of LFO-YMO multilayers are crucial to understanding their magnetic properties. Full article
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5937 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Multiferroic Properties of YMnO3 Ceramics Fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering Along with Low-Temperature Solid-State Reaction
by Meng Wang, Ting Wang, Shenhua Song, Muchakayala Ravi, Renchen Liu and Shishan Ji
Materials 2017, 10(5), 474; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10050474 - 28 Apr 2017
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5123
Abstract
Based on precursor powders with a size of 200–300 nm prepared by the low-temperature solid-state reaction method, phase-pure YMnO3 ceramics are fabricated using spark plasma sintering (SPS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveal that the high-purity YMnO3 ceramics [...] Read more.
Based on precursor powders with a size of 200–300 nm prepared by the low-temperature solid-state reaction method, phase-pure YMnO3 ceramics are fabricated using spark plasma sintering (SPS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveal that the high-purity YMnO3 ceramics can be prepared by SPS at 1000 °C for 5 minutes with annealing at 800 °C for 2 h. The relative density of the sample is as high as 97%, which is much higher than those of the samples sintered by other methods. The present dielectric and magnetic properties are much better than those of the samples fabricated by conventional methods and SPS with ball-milling precursors, and the ferroelectric loops at room temperature can be detected. These findings indicate that the YMnO3 ceramics prepared by the low temperature solid reaction method and SPS possess excellent dielectric lossy ferroelectric properties at room temperature, and magnetic properties at low temperature (10 K), making them suitable for potential multiferroic applications. Full article
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Review

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2017 KiB  
Review
Measurement Techniques of the Magneto-Electric Coupling in Multiferroics
by M. M. Vopson, Y. K. Fetisov, G. Caruntu and G. Srinivasan
Materials 2017, 10(8), 963; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10080963 - 17 Aug 2017
Cited by 90 | Viewed by 8974
Abstract
The current surge of interest in multiferroic materials demands specialized measurement techniques to support multiferroics research. In this review article we detail well-established measurement techniques of the magneto-electric coupling coefficient in multiferroic materials, together with newly proposed ones. This work is intended to [...] Read more.
The current surge of interest in multiferroic materials demands specialized measurement techniques to support multiferroics research. In this review article we detail well-established measurement techniques of the magneto-electric coupling coefficient in multiferroic materials, together with newly proposed ones. This work is intended to serve as a reference document for anyone willing to develop experimental measurement techniques of multiferroic materials. Full article
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