Enhanced magnetoelectric coupling in trilayer PNNZT/CTFO/PNNZT composite thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Magnetoelectric 2-2 multilayer composite structures have gained attention due to strong ME coupling and as potential next generation multifunctional devices. In this study, we report our studies on the polycrystalline trilayer PNNZT/CTFO/PNNZT (PNNZT: 0.5Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.35PbTiO3-0.15PbZrO3; CTFO:Co1.2Ti0.2Fe1.6O4) composite thin films grown on (111)Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) substrate by a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The structural and phase purity data were acquired by using grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GI-XRD) studies. Individual layer ferroelectric PNNZT (remanent polarization Pr- 31 mu C/cm2, piezoelectric coefficient d*33-182 pm/V), and ferromagnetic CTFO (Magnetization Ms- 125 emu/cc) thin films displayed a significant functional property, which confirms the high quality of the thin film growth. Further, the trilayer composite thin films also showed significant ferroelectric (Pr- 21 mu C/cm2) and magnetic (Ms- 116 emu/cc) properties. In addition, these trilayer thin films exhibit a strong ME coupling by attaining a desirable magnetoelectric voltage coefficient (MEVC: alpha ME) of 1.12V cm-1 Oe-1 at 1 kHz, with device application capability. This is one of the highest reported MEVC values in the case of PNNZT/CTFO/PNNZT trilayer composite thin films.

Automated summary

In this study, we investigate the structure and properties of the polycrystalline trilayer PNNZT/CTFO/PNNZT composite thin films grown on a substrate using a pulsed laser deposition technique. The individual ferroelectric PNNZT and ferromagnetic CTFO thin films display good functional properties, and the trilayer composite thin films also show significant ferroelectric and magnetic properties. Furthermore, these thin films exhibit a strong magnetoelectric coupling and have potential for device applications.