Modeling of magnetoelectric effect in polycrystalline multiferroic laminates influenced by the orientations of applied electric/magnetic fields

By using coarse graining model, the dependence of magnetoelectric (ME) coupling on the mutual orientations of magnetic and electric fields with respect to the orientation of layers in polycrystalline multiferroic laminates is investigated. It is shown that the ME coefficient, described by polarization change in response to the applied magnetic field, is proportional to the trace of effective piezomagnetic strain tensor projected onto laminate interfaces. The piezomagnetic strain significantly depends on the orientation of applied magnetic fields. The results obtained here demonstrate that the magnetoelectric effect in layered composites can be significantly improved by optimizing the configuration of applied electric/magnetic fields.