Strain-induced modulation of magnetodielectric and magnetoelectric coupling in pzt/cfo thin films grown by rf-sputtering

•The correlation between the interdacial tensile stress and the magnetodieletric properties.•Difference in dielectric dispersion between the type of interface oxide-oxide or oxide-metal-oxide.•Study of magnetoelectric coupling through the behavior of electrical polarization as a function of the magnetic field. The miniaturization of systems devices based on the magnetoelectric effect requires a better understanding of the factors that rule the coupling at the interface between different materials in magnetoelectric composites. In this context, this work presents the influence of stress generated at the interface PZT-CFO on multiferroic properties and the magnetodielectric coupling of the PbZr0,2Ti0,8O3/CoFe2O4 heterostructures fabricated by RF-Sputtering technique. It was found that tensile stress generated in the PZT/CFO interface modifies both XRD patterns and ferromagnetic hysteresis loop, inducing an additional contribution to the magnetic anisotropy compared with CFO and PZT layers. In addition, the dielectric properties of the PZT/CFO system are ruled by interfacial charges that accumulate in the PZT-CFO interface. On the other hand, changes in dielectric permittivity as a function of magnetic field (i.e., the magnetodielectric effects) result of the association between the ferroelectric domain movement modulated by stress on the PZT phase due to magnetostriction generated by the CFO phase and the magnetoelectric polarization contribution properly characterized by changes in the remnant polarization due to a magnetic field.