RESUMEN
Magnetoelectric (ME)-based magnetometers have garnered much attention as they boast ultra-low-power systems with a small form factor and limit of detection in the tens of picotesla. The highly sensitive and low-power electric readout from the ME sensor makes them attractive for near DC and low-frequency AC magnetic fields as platforms for continuous magnetic signature monitoring. Among multiple configurations of the current ME magnetic sensors, most rely on exploiting the mechanically resonant characteristics of a released ME microelectromechanical system (MEMS) in a heterostructure device. Through optimizing the resonant device configuration, we design and fabricate a fixed-fixed resonant beam structure with high isolation compared to previous designs operating at ~800 nW of power comprised of piezoelectric aluminum nitride (AlN) and magnetostrictive (Co1-xFex)-based thin films that are less susceptible to vibration while providing similar characteristics to ME-MEMS cantilever devices. In this new design of double-clamped magnetoelectric MEMS resonators, we have also utilized thin films of a new iron-cobalt-hafnium alloy (Fe0.5Co0.5)0.92Hf0.08 that provides a low-stress, high magnetostrictive material with an amorphous crystalline structure and ultra-low magnetocrystalline anisotropy. Together, the improvements of this sensor design yield a magnetic field sensitivity of 125 Hz/mT when released in a compressive state. The overall detection limit of these sensors using an electric field drive and readout are presented, and noise sources are discussed. Based on these results, design parameters for future ME MEMS field sensors are discussed.
RESUMEN
Magnetoelectric materials present a unique opportunity for electric field-controlled magnetism. Even though strain-mediated multiferroic heterostructures have shown unprecedented increase in magnetoelectric coupling compared to single-phase materials, further improvements must be made before ultra-low power memory, logic, magnetic sensors, and wide spectrum antennas can be realized. This work presents how magnetoelectric coupling can be enhanced by simultaneously exploiting multiple strain engineering approaches in heterostructures composed of Fe0.5Co0.5/Ag multilayers on (011) Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 piezoelectric crystals. When grown and measured under strain, these heterostructures exhibit an effective converse magnetoelectric coefficient in the order of 10-5 s m-1: the highest directly measured, non-resonant value to-date. This response occurred at room temperature and at low electric fields (<2 kV cm-1). This large effect is enabled by magnetization reorientation caused by changing the magnetic anisotropy with strain from the substrate and the use of multilayered magnetic materials to minimize the internal stress from deposition. Additionally, the coercive field dependence of the magnetoelectric response under strain suggests contributions from domain-mediated magnetization switching modified by voltage-induced magnetoelastic anisotropy. This work highlights how multicomponent strain engineering enables enhanced magnetoelectric coupling in heterostructures and provides an approach to realize energy-efficient magnetoelectric applications.
RESUMEN
Solution-deposited nanoscale films of RuO2 ("nanoskins") are effective transparent conductors once calcined to 200 °C. Upon heating the nanoskins to higher temperature the nanoskins show increased transmission at 550 nm. Electronic microscopy and X-ray diffraction show that the changes in the optical spectrum are accompanied by the formation of rutile RuO2 nanoparticles. The mechanism for the spectral evolution is clearly observed with ultrafast optical measurements. Following excitation at 400 nm, nanoskins calcined at higher temperatures show increased transmission above 650 nm, consistent with the photobleaching of a surface-plasmon resonance (SPR) band. Calculations based on the optical constants of RuO2 substantiate the presence of SPR absorption. Sheet resistance and transient terahertz photoconductivity measurements establish that the nanoskins electrically de-wire into separated particles. The plasmonic behavior of the nanoskins has implications their use in a range of optical and electrochemical applications.
RESUMEN
The ability to tune both magnetic and electric properties in magnetoelectric (ME) composite heterostructures is crucial for multiple transduction applications including energy harvesting or magnetic field sensing, or other transduction devices. While large ME coupling achieved through interfacial strain-induced rotation of magnetic anisotropy in magnetostrictive/piezoelectric multiferroic heterostructures has been demonstrated, there are presently certain restrictions for achieving a full control of magnetism in an extensive operational dynamic range, limiting practical realization of this effect. Here, we demonstrate the possibility of generating substantial reversible anisotropy changes through induced interfacial strains driven by applied electric fields in magnetostrictive thin films deposited on (0 1 1)-oriented domain-engineered ternary relaxor ferroelectric single crystals with extended temperature and voltage ranges as compared to binary relaxors. We show, through a combination of angular magnetization and magneto-optical domain imaging measurements, that a 90° in-plane rotation of the magnetic anisotropy and propagation of magnetic domains with low applied electric fields under zero electric field bias are realized. To our knowledge, the present value attained for converse magnetoelectric coupling coefficient is the highest achieved in the linear piezoelectric regime and expected to be stable for a wide temperature range, thus representing a step towards practical ME transduction devices.
RESUMEN
Luminescent gold nanocrystals (AuNCs) are a recently-developed material with potential optic, electronic and biological applications. They also demonstrate energy transfer (ET) acceptor/sensitization properties which have been ascribed to Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and, to a lesser extent, nanosurface energy transfer (NSET). Here, we investigate AuNC acceptor interactions with three structurally/functionally-distinct donor classes including organic dyes, metal chelates and semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). Donor quenching was observed for every donor-acceptor pair although AuNC sensitization was only observed from metal-chelates and QDs. FRET theory dramatically underestimated the observed energy transfer while NSET-based damping models provided better fits but could not reproduce the experimental data. We consider additional factors including AuNC magnetic dipoles, density of excited-states, dephasing time, and enhanced intersystem crossing that can also influence ET. Cumulatively, data suggests that AuNC sensitization is not by classical FRET or NSET and we provide a simplified distance-independent ET model to fit such experimental data.
RESUMEN
To understand the importance of the band gap to the magnetic ordering in magnetic semiconductors, we have studied the effect of particle size on the ferromagnetic Curie temperature in semiconducting EuS. We have synthesized capped approximately 20 nm EuS nanoparticles using a single-source precursor, [Eu(S(2)CN(i)()Bu(2))(3)Phen] decomposed in trioctylphosphine. The nanoparticles have been characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, TEM, and magnetic susceptibility measurements as a function of temperature and field. The Curie temperature, based on Arrott plots, is depressed by 1-2 K from the bulk value.
