Elżbieta Jartych

In our studies, we combined two powdered materials, i.e., ferroelectric triglycine sulfate (TGS) and ferrimagnetic magnetite Fe3O4, to obtain a magnetoelectric composite. The ferroelectric (E) part, i.e., TGS, was a hybrid organic–inorganic crystal, which we obtained as a pure single crystal from an aqueous solution using a static water evaporation method. The magnetic (M) part of the composite was commercially available magnetite. The samples used for the dielectric and magnetoelectric measurements were cold-pressed and made in the form of a circular tablet. The measuring electrodes were made of silver-based conductive paste and were attached to the sample. We measured the temperature dependencies of selected electrical parameters (e.g., dielectric permittivity, electrical capacity, and loss angle tangent). We used the dynamic lock-in method to check whether magnetoelectric coupling existed between the E and M phases. In this paper, we present the dielectric properties of pure monocrystalline TGS as a reference sample and compare the results for TGS powder, TGS + carbon powder, and TGS + Fe3O4 powder. The magnetoelectric coupling presumably appeared for the composite TGS + 10 wt. % Fe3O4, as evidenced by the shift in the phase transition temperature in the TGS. Moreover, the theoretical interpretation of the effect is proposed.

The purpose of the present study was to learn the morphological, structural, ferroelectric, dielectric, electromechanical, magnetoelectric, and magnetic properties, and DC conductivity of BaTiO3-Ni0.64Zn0.36Fe2O4 (BT-F) multiferroic composites compacted via the free sintering method. The influence of the ferrite content in ceramic composite materials on the functional properties is investigated and discussed. X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the presence of two main phases of the composite, with strong reflections originating from BaTiO3 and weak peaks originating from nickel-zinc ferrite. BT-F ceramic composites have been shown to exhibit multiferroism at room temperature. All studied compositions have high permittivity values and low dielectric loss, while the ferroelectric properties of the BT component are maintained at a high level. On the other hand, magnetic properties depend on the amount of the ferrite phase and are the strongest for the composition with 15 wt.% of F (magnetization at RT is 4.12 emu/g). The magnetoelectric coupling between BT and F phases confirmed by the lock-in technique is the largest for 15 wt.% ferrite. In the present work, the process conditions of the free sintering method for obtaining BT-F multiferroic composite with good electrical and magnetic properties (in one material) were optimized. An improved set of multifunctional properties allows the expansion of the possibilities of using multiferroic composites in microelectronics.