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Multiferroic Materials

Hard disk
Image courtesy of iStockphoto

The continuous research and development into new materials and structures has made possible the massive technological progress in digital consumer electronics, computing power and data storage capacities. Using a combination of vertical integration via thin film deposition techniques and photolithography, more complex sensors, integrated circuits, displays and recording devices are created with current lithographic definition limits at around 40 nm and precise thin film deposition of layers less than 1 nm thick. The quest for creating smaller and more powerful devices with less power consumption pushes solid-state physics and materials science to new frontiers. In this respect, multiferroic materials are very promising candidates for the development of advanced sensors and technologies because they uniquely exhibit simultaneously magnetic, electric and piezo properties.

The electric and magnetic phases that coexist in a multiferroic material can couple to each other directly or via strain mediated effects leading to the occurrence of the magneto-electric (ME) coupling. The ME coupling can be induced either magnetically or electrically and this effect is described by the ME coupling coefficient. The measurement and modelling of the ME coupling of multiferroics is highly complex and requires the development of specialized equipment currently unavailable. NPL has developed brand new metrology for the measurement of the magnetically induced ME coupling coefficient of multiferroics. Our first unique experimental system has been designed for room temperature measurement of multiferroics and is based on the quasi-static piezoelectric coefficient measurement under applied magnetic field.

NPL's studies continue with the extension of our multiferroic metrologies to micro / nano scale spatial resolution through the realisation of a unique SPM based approach which will provide NPL with the worlds first fully traceable measurement system for multifunctional, multiferroic materials used for the next generation of smart sensors and actuators.

Among some of the technological applications envisaged for multiferroic materials NPL has proposed a novel magneto-electric magnetic recording reader used to read back data in hard disk drives or magnetic tapes.

Publications

  • M Vopsaroiu, M G Cain, P D Woolliams, P M Weaver, M Stewart, C D Wright, Y Tran, Voltage control of the magnetic coercive field: multiferroic coupling or artefact?, Journal of Applied Physics 109, 066101 (2011)
  • Marian Vopsaroiu, John Blackburn, Markys G Cain, Emerging Technologies and Opportunities Based on the Magneto-Electric Effect in Multiferroic Composites, (invited paper) Novel Materials and Devices for Spintronics book series: Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Vol 1183, pp 151-162 (2010)
  • J Blackburn, M Vopsaroiu, M G Cain, Composite multiferroics as magnetic field detectors: How to optimise magneto-electric coupling, Advances in Applied Ceramics, Vol 109, No 3, pp 169-174 (2010)
  • Marian Vopsaroiu, John Blackburn, Markys G Cain, Emerging Technologies and Opportunities Based on the Magneto-Electric Effect in Multiferroic Composites, (invited paper) Mater Res Soc Symp Proc, Vol 1161 (2009)
  • Marian Vopsaroiu, M Stewart, T Hegarty, A Piniella, M Cain, G Srinivasan, Experimental determination of the magneto-electric coupling coefficient via piezo-electric measurements, Meas Sci Technol 19 045106 (2008)
  • Marian Vopsaroiu, J Blackburn, A Piniella, M G Cain, Multiferroic magnetic recording read head technology for 1Tb/in2 and beyond, Journal of Applied Physics 103, 07F506 (2008)
  • Marian Vopsaroiu, M Stewart, T Fry, M Cain, G Srinivasan, Tuning the Magneto-electric Effect of Multiferroic Composites via Crystallographic Texture, IEEE Trans Magn, Vol 44, No 11, pp 3017–3020 (2008)
  • J Blackburn, M Vopsaroiu, M G Cain, Verified finite element simulation of multiferroic structures: solutions for conducting and insulating systems, Journal of Applied Physics, 104 074104 (2008)
  • Marian Vopsaroiu, J Blackburn, M G Cain, A new magnetic recording read head technology based on the magneto-electric effect, J Phys D: Applied Physics, Vol 40, p 5027 (2007)

For more information, please contact Melvin Vopson

Last Updated: 30 Mar 2012
Created: 23 Aug 2007