Magnetoelectric effect in Terfenol-D∕Pb(Zr,TiO)3∕μ-metal laminate composites

The authors have found that the required dc magnetic bias of magnetoelectric (ME) laminates can be significantly altered, by incorporating additional high-permeability μ-metal layers. Investigations have focused on Tb1−xDyxFe2−y∕Pb(Zr1−xTix)O3∕μ-metal laminates. The authors’ results show that laminated μ-metal layers oriented perpendicular to an ac magnetic field concentrate flux in the composite, whereas those parallel to it attenuate flux. This results in (i) a significant decrease in the required dc magnetic bias Hdc, and (ii) an effective enhancement in the ME voltage coefficients at low Hdc, by a factor of up to 7.6.