Research Progress of Film/Bulk Oxide Magnetoelectric Composites

Composite ceramics of ferrites (e.g., CoFe sub(2)O sub(4), NiFe sub(2)O sub(4)) and ferroelectrics (e.g., BaTiO sub(3), Pb(Zr sub(x)Ti sub(1-x))O sub(3)) are classical magnetoelectric (ME) materials, which are also the first composites found to exhibit large room-temperature ME effect. These composites are generally fabricated via sintering at high temperature of over 1200[degrees]C. However, such high-temperature co-firing processing yields atom inter-diffusion and/or chemical reactions between two phases, or even microcracks. In this review, several low-temperature (normally below 800[degrees]C) synthesis routes of depositing the ferromagnetic (ferroelectric) films on ferroelectric (ferromagnetic) bulk single-crystals or ceramics are summarized. By such means, the above-mentioned problems can be avoided to improve the ME effect across the interface. Methods frequently used for characterizing the ME effect in these ceramics-based composites films are also discussed.