A low-power and high-sensitivity magnetic field sensor based on converse magnetoelectric effect

Abstract

Tremendous progress has been made in boosting the realization of magnetoelectric (ME) magnetometers based on the direct ME effect (DME) for bulk ME laminates. In this work, we studied the potential of an electrically driven bulk magnetic field sensor based on the converse ME effect (CME). Starting from a discussion about the dependence of the induced voltage from the pickup coil on coil parameters and the CME coupling process, we then experimentally measured the optimized bias field in the off resonance region and observed the double-peak phenomenon that occurred within the resonance window. More importantly, the optimization with respect to the sample's dimension, excitation voltage, and frequency was conducted to improve the sensing capability for low-frequency magnetic fields. It was experimentally found that a limit of detection (LoD) of ∼115 pT for a magnetic field of 10 Hz and ∼300 pT for a magnetic field of 1 Hz was achieved when exciting the ME laminate at 1 V without any bias field. In this case, the power consumption for the ME laminate is only 0.56 mW, which is much lower compared to tens of milliwatts (10–100 mW) for optically pumped or flux gate sensors (excluding the power consumption from the electronics) and also shows advantages over conventional ME magnetic field sensors based on DME with a current pump.

Review of Magnetoelectric Sensors

“…In 2011, frequency conversion technology (FCT) was proposed to circumvent the large 1/f noise for active ME sensors [56][57][58][59][60]. Quasi-static or extremely-low frequency magnetic fields can be effectively detected in this case.…”

Magnetoelectrics: Three Centuries of Research Heading Towards the 4.0 Industrial Revolution

“…Chu et al [ 104 ], reported a ME magnetic field sensor based in the control of the magnetization via an applied electric field with a ME laminate composed by Pb(Mg 1/3 -Nb 2/3 )O 3 -Pb(Zr, Ti)O 3 (PMN-PZT) crystal, poled along the thickness direction and a pickup coil wound around the laminate. This laminate was electrically driven by the contacts deposited on the piezoelectric layer at the frequency of its first-order longitudinal vibration mode, and the induced voltage was captured by the pickup coil based on the law of electromagnetic induction, Figure 16 .…”

“…The ME laminate show a sensitivity of 3400 V/T, the induced voltage was mainly proportional to the excitation voltage. The sensor also exhibited a limit of detection of ≈115 pT at 10 Hz and 300 pT at 1 Hz, with a power consumption of 0.56 mW [104]. Xu et al [105], developed a low frequency transmitter based on the capabilities of the ME resonance sensor.…”

“…ΔM as a function of external HDC is also given on the right. The inset shows the schematic of the ME heterostructure.Reproduced with permission from[104].…”

Novel Magnetic Field Modulation Concept Using Multiferroic Heterostructure for Magnetoresistive Sensors

“…For example, Kuntal Ray et al theoretically proved that the magnetization switching time of the single-domain nanomagnet under the driving voltage applied on the magnetostrictive/piezoelectric multiferroic can be up to 10 ns [32], which implies that the modulation frequency of the novel modulation method can theoretically reach 100 MHz. Experimentally, Zhaoqiang Chu et al proposed a low-power and high-sensitivity magnetic field sensor based on a FE/FM multiferroic heterostructure, and the sensor operates well at high frequency up to 40 kHz [33]. Tianxiang Nan et al reported on nanomechanical magnetoelectric antennas with a FE/FM thin-film multiferroic heterostructure working at about 60 MHz.…”