A differential magnetoelectric heterostructure: Internal noise reduction and external noise cancellation

A differential heterostructure design which has a capability to reduce the internal noise and reject the external vibration noise for Metglas magnetostrictive foils/ Pb(Zr, Ti)O-3 piezofiber based-magnetoelectric (ME) laminated composite has been studied. The internal noise reduction is equivalent to that offered by sensor array stacks, and the external noise cancellation is based on a differential method (i.e., ME signal is in-phase but vibration noise is anti-phase). The ability of the structure to reduce the internal noise, and cancel the external vibration noise by a 10-fold attenuation factor, allows for practical applications of these sensors in real-world environments where contamination of magnetic signals by external vibrational noise increases the equivalent magnetic noise. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.