Sensors and Actuators A 179 (2012) 78–82

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Sensors and Actuators A: Physical

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Geomagnetic sensors based on Metglas/PZT laminates

D.T. Huong Giang ∗ , P.A. Duc, N.T. Ngoc, N.H. Duc
Department of Nano Magnetic Materials and Devices, Faculty of Engineering Physics and Nanotechnology, University of Engineering and Technology, Vietnam National University,
Hanoi, E3 Building, 144 Xuan Thuy Road, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Viet Nam

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A potential geomagnetic-field sensor is proposed on the basis of an optimal 2D configuration of magne-
Received 21 November 2011 toelectric Ni-based Metglas/PZT laminates. This sensor can perfectly serve to measure both the strength
Received in revised form 19 March 2012 and the orientation of the earth’s magnetic field. An incredibly high ME-voltage response of 0.871 V/Oe to
Accepted 19 March 2012
the geomagnetic field with a resolution of 3 × 10−4 Oe has been achieved for composite laminates with a
Available online 28 March 2012
size of 15 mm × 1 mm. With respect to the field inclination, an angular sensitivity of 3.86 × 10−3 V/degree
and an angular resolution of 10−1 degree have been determined. This simple and low-cost magnetic-field
Keywords:
sensor is promising for applications not only as novel smart compasses and in global positioning devices,
Magnetic sensors
Geomagnetic sensors
but also as magnetic biosensors.
Magnetoelectric effects © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Multiferroics

1. Introduction Regarding the high magnetoelectric voltage coefficients, mul-

tiferroic composites on the basis of magnetostrictive ferrites and
The principle of global positioning is based on the fact that both rare earth-transition intermetallics have been studied intensively
the strength and the inclination of the geomagnetic field is a well- since the beginning of this century [2,3,5–10]. In particular, opera-
defined function of the geographic position. The weak geomagnetic tion principle, design and functioning characteristics of these new
fields, however, can only be detected with sensing devices of very ME sensors have also been described [2,3]. Values of magnetic field
high sensitivity. Beside the traditional types of magnetic sensors on response (dVME /dH) as high as 0.06 × 10−3 V/Oe, 56 × 10−3 V/Oe
the basis of fluxgate, Hall effect, superconducting quantum interfer- and 13 × 10−3 V/Oe were reported for ME sensors using magne-
ence and giant magnetoresistance spin valves, such a sensor could tostrictive Ni0.5 Zn0.5 Fe2 O3 ferrites [5], Terfenol-D laminates [6]
recently be realized thanks to the magnetoelectric (ME) effect [1–3]. and Terfecohan thin films [7], respectively. In an approach to use
This simple, low-cost sensor, furthermore, is featured by function- ME sensors for the determination of ac magnetic-field strengths,
ing at the room temperature. Fetisov et al. [8] have successfully developed a promising sensor
The ME effect has been observed in multiferroics and/or with a sensitivity better than 10−3 Oe for milli-Hz frequency mag-
ferromagnetic-ferroelectric composites (hereafter denoted as ME netic fields. Furthermore, strong efforts have been undertaken to
materials). In these materials, an electric polarization P in the enhance the ME effects by altering the shape and the volume ratio of
material shall respond to the applied magnetic field H, whereas a the piezoelectric/magnetostrictive laminates [11] or by improving
magnetization M will respond to the applied electric field E. The the lamination process [12]. In the case of micro fabrication, Greve
polarization process in an ME sample as response to the exter- et al. [13] reported a giant ME coefficient as high as 737 V/cm Oe
nal applied magnetic field shall creates an electric field of E = ˛E ·H, for (Fe90 Co10 )78 Si12 B10 -AlN thin film composites. Recently, an ME
where ˛E (= dE/dH) denotes the magnetoelectric voltage coefficient. sensor using Co-based Metglas/PZT laminates was designed, fab-
As a result, a voltage VME = t·E (= ˛E ·t·H) appears between the sur- ricated and characterized for determining the strengths as well as
faces of the sample of the thickness t. Large magnetoelectric voltage the orientations of dc- and ac-magnetic fields [3], where an ME-
coefficients offer potential device applications as highly sensitive voltage response (dVME /dH) of 2 × 10−3 V/Oe at low dc fields and, in
magnetic-field sensors, microwave filters, transformers, and gyra- particular, a response (dVME /dhac ) as high as 17 × 10−3 V/Oe at the
tors [4]. low ac-ones was reported. These findings imply a great potential
for self-powered detection of low ac-magnetic fields.
For an optimal design of ME laminate sensors, modeling
approaches have been undertaken by several research groups
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +84 4 3754 9665; fax: +84 4 3754 7460. (e.g. [14–20]). While some models [15] have taken into account
E-mail address: giangdth@vnu.edu.vn (D.T.H. Giang). the effect of the thickness ratio between the piezoelectric and

0924-4247/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.sna.2012.03.030
 D.T.H. Giang et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 179 (2012) 78–82 79

Fig. 1. Schematic of the bilayer (a) and sandwich (b) Ni-based Metglas/PZT composite configuration. Vector Hdc , hac and P shows the applied magnetic fields and the electrical
polarization direction, respectively.

magnetostrictive phases, other finite-element magnetostatic sim- 3. Results and discussion

ulations [18–20] have considered the role of the magnetostrictive
length on the magnetic field concentration in ME sensors. Although 3.1. Shape and size dependence of the resonant frequency
more appropriate descriptions of some specific aspects of sensor’s
behavior seem still necessary in the models, these results have Fig. 2 shows the ac-magnetic-field-frequency dependence of the
demonstrated a useful approach to significantly enhance the sensi- ME coefficient ˛E measured under a fixed bias dc-magnetic field
tivity of magnetostrictive/piezoelectric laminates as geomagnetic of 4 Oe for the investigated square-shaped (r = 1) bilayer compos-
field sensors. ite laminates of different sizes of 8 mm × 8 mm, 10 mm × 10 mm,
In this paper, a potential geomagnetic sensor is presented by 12 mm × 12 mm and 15 mm × 15 mm. The results show that with
optimizing the 2D configuration of the magnetoelectric Ni-based the increasing laminate size, the resonance is shifted toward lower
Metglas/PZT laminates. At low dc-magnetic fields, a huge ME- frequencies (fr ), whereas ˛E significantly increases. The observed
voltage response as high as 0.871 V/Oe was obtained for the sensor phenomena can be described in term of the vibrating plates, in
with size of 15 mm × 1 mm. The sensor is promising not only which one of the natural frequencies (fnm ) of the modes is obtained
for applications in novel smart compasses and global positioning from the solution to the two-dimensional wave equation in Carte-
devices, but also in magnetic biosensors. sian coordinates [21]:

v n2 m2
fnm = + 2,
2 L 2 W
2. Experimental
with v as the wave velocity in the PZT, n and m as integer numbers
The ME magnetic-field sensor was fabricated by bonding an (1, 2. . .).
out-of-plane polarized piezoelectric PZT plate with magnetostric- Indeed, the experimental results are well fitted with a funda-
tive laminates. For this purpose, the 200-␮m-thick PZT plate mental frequency f11 (i.e. with n = m = 1) (see Fig. 3). From this
(APCC-855) of American Piezoceramics Inc., PA, USA was used. description, the phase velocity turns out to be of 2800 m/s for PZT.
The magnetostrictive laminates were cut from the 18-␮m-thick This finding is consistent with that reported for the piezoelectric
Fe76.8 Ni1.2 B13.2 Si8.8 melt-spun ribbons (also called Ni-based Met- bulk material. For sandwich Metglas/PZT/Metglas structures, the
glas) in different sizes according to the length-to-width ratio ME effect can be remarkably increased, while the resonant fre-
(r = L/W), with r = 1, 1.5, 3, 7.5 and 15, and used for the various sam- quency exhibits no change.
ples in this work. It is worth to note that the Ni-based Metglas As regards to the shape effect, in this paper, rectangular
ribbon is a soft magnetostrictive material with a magnetostriction composite laminates with different length to width ratios were
coefficient () of about 70 × 10−6 and a magnetostrictive suscep- investigated. For the fabrication of the investigated samples, its
tibility (␭ = d/dH) of 1.5 × 10−6 Oe−1 . Thanks to the mechanic longitudinal edge (the length L) was kept fixed at 15 mm while
coupling between the components, the PZT plate undergoes a its transversal edge (the width W) was varied from 1 to 15 mm,
forced strain induced by the magnetostrictive layers under the in-
plane (and/or out-of-plane) applied magnetic field. In this case,
the ME-voltage VME is induced across the thickness of the piezo-
electric plate. Fig. 1 presents the configuration of such fabricated
bilayer Metglas/PZT and sandwich Metglas/PZT/Metglas ME com-
posite laminates.
In the sample configurations under investigation, a linear elec-
tric polarization P is induced by a weak ac magnetic field hac
(= ho sin(2fo t)) oscillating at the resonant frequency in the pres-
ence of a dc bias field H and the ME voltage VME is directly measured
as a response of the ME composite to the applied magnetic field. In
the experimental setup, the bias field H was provided by an electro-
magnet, and the oscillating field with amplitudes of hac = 10−2 Oe
was generated by a Helmholtz coil. The output voltage (VME ),
induced across the PZT layer of the ME laminate by the ac field (hac )
was measured on a commercial DSP lock-in amplifier (Model 7265
of Signal Recovery), which simultaneously controlled the input cur-
rent to the Helmholtz coil. The value of the ˛E coefficient is derived Fig. 2. ME coefficient as a function of the ac magnetic field frequency for square-
then from the equation: ˛E = VME /hac ·tPZT . shaped samples.
80 D.T.H. Giang et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 179 (2012) 78–82

Fig. 5. The magnetic field dependent of ME coefficient for 8 mm × 8 mm,

12 mm × 12 mm and 15 mm × 15 mm bilayer square-shaped samples.

Fig. 3. Resonant frequency vs. (1/W 2 ) + (1/L2 ) for square-shaped bilayer com- at a certain magnetic field (denotes as the optimal field for the
posites of different sizes L × W.
maximal ME response) and then decreases with further increas-
ing magnetic field. It is apparent that the value of ME coefficient
so that a series of rectangular laminate samples was obtained is strongly influenced by the sample size: the larger the interfa-
with the respective length/width ratios (r = L/W) varying from 15 cial area (i.e. the sample size), the lower the optimal magnetic
to 1. The respective values of the resonant frequency fr , obtained field, the higher the ME voltage coefficient and, consequently, the
for these samples are shown in Fig. 4 for the case the magnetic higher the initial slope at low magnetic fields is found for the ˛E (H)
fields are applied along the length of samples. It is interesting that, curves. This observation can be understood in term of the so-called
except the square-shaped sample (with r = 1), all composite lami- “shear lagging” edge effect [22]. Furthermore, a huge ME coeffi-
nates exhibit an invariant fr of about 100 kHz, which is nearly 1.5 cient of 75.9 V/cm Oe is found at low bias field of only 10 Oe in
times lower than that observed for the sample with r = 1. By using the composite laminate with r = 1. By using the sandwich Met-
the above extracted wave velocity, the measured resonant frequen- glas/PZT/Metglas laminate structures, the ME effect can increase up
cies of the rectangular composite laminates are well fitted with the to ˛E = 132.1 V/cm Oe. Although this value is about 5 times lower
fundamental frequencies of the one-dimensional wave equation than the highest ME coefficient reported for (Fe90 Co10 )78 Si12 B10 -
f10 = v/2L. In this case, the resonant frequency is ascribed as mainly AlN thin film by Greve et al. [13], the composite laminates fabricated
governed by the longitudinal length of the sample. with a simple and low-cost technology in this work suggest a very
promising application in practical sensors.
3.2. Shape and size dependence of the ME coefficient With the motivation to further enhance the low-field ME voltage
coefficient, rectangular-shape composite laminates with various
Fig. 5 shows the bias-field dependence of the ME coefficient length/width ratios have been prepared and investigated. This
for the different investigated square-shaped samples measured motivation is based on the fact that the enhancement of mag-
at the resonant frequencies. As can be seen, for all samples the netoelectric softness is related to the shape anisotropy. Fig. 6
magnetoelectric coefficient exhibits a similar behavior: it initially shows the ME coefficient ˛E as a function of the dc-magnetic field
increases at low applied magnetic fields, reaches a maximum value strength for sandwich composite laminates of different sizes as
15 mm × 15 mm, 15 mm × 3 mm and 15 mm × 1 mm, correspond-
ing to the respective length/width ratios of r = 1, 5 and 15. The
measurements were carried out with the magnetic fields applied

Fig. 6. The ME coefficient as a function of bias magnetic field for rectangular-shaped

Fig. 4. Resonant frequency vs. the ratio of the length to the width r (= L/W) for bilayer sandwich Metglas/PZT/Metglas composites of different sizes 15 mm × 15 mm,
ME composites. The fitted line f10 = v/2L is shown. 15 mm × 3 mm and 15 mm × 1 mm.
 D.T.H. Giang et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 179 (2012) 78–82 81

Fig. 9. The output ME voltage as a function of bias magnetic field for sensor proto-
type. The fitted curve is included.

Fig. 7. ME coefficient measured at Hdc = 2 Oe (open square) and maximum ME coef-

ficient (close circle) as a function of the length to the width ratio (L/W).
current source was used to generate the bias magnetic fields in the
range up to 1.5 Oe with the accuracy of 10−5 Oe.
along the length of the sample. The results show that the maxi- Shown in Fig. 9 is the ME voltage response to the external
mal ME coefficient is significantly unchanged in samples with high magnetic field. As can be seen, a linear variation of the ME-
r values (remaining significantly at 131 V/cm Oe, obtained for the voltage with the external magnetic field has been found in the
sample with r = 15, see Fig. 7). The optimal magnetic field for the field range up to 1.0 Oe. From this result, the sensor sensitivity
maximal ME response, however, strongly decreases from 21 Oe could be derived as high as 0.871 V/Oe. In a more detailed analysis,
in the sample with r = 1 to 7 Oe in the sample with r = 15. Conse- the field resolution of 3 × 10−4 Oe has been estimated. Surpris-
quently, the much higher initial slope at low-magnetic fields of the ingly, the present ME-based sensor exhibits a sensitivity, which
˛E (H) curves is observed. This important behavior is illustrated in is two orders of magnitude higher than that previously reported
Fig. 7 with the data measured in an applied field of 2 Oe. The highest for similar magnetic-sensor devices and is comparable with that of
ME coefficient of 62.61 V/cm Oe has been found in the sample with available commercial geomagnetic sensors [23]. This configuration
length to width ratio r = 15. As will be presented in the next section, presents a good combination of the excellent magnetic softness of
for practical geomagnetic sensor applications, the optimal size of Ni-based Metglas ribbons and the effects of the shape anisotropy.
15 mm × 1 mm (i.e. r = 15) could be chosen for sensor prototypes. This sensor enables to detect not only the geomagnetic fields, but
also the magnetic fields of magnetic micro- and nano-beads in
3.3. Geomagnetic sensor prototype biochip applications.
Regarding the application of the proposed sensor in determining
Fig. 8 shows photographs of the ME composite laminates and the orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field, another experimental
a geomagnetic sensor prototype fabricated using an ME compos- setup is illustrated in Fig. 10(a). Shown in Fig. 10(b) is the sen-
ite laminate with optimal rectangular size of 15 mm × 1 mm. A sor output voltage as a function of the ϕ-angle between the sensor
solenoid coil is wrapped around the ME composite laminate to gen- axis, i.e. the axis in the plane along the length of the laminate. The
erate the ac-magnetic field at the resonant frequency. The effective zero angle (ϕ = 0◦ ) is defined when the sensor is in such a posi-
field is by this way aligned in-plane and along the length of the tion that its axis is aligned parallel to the Earth’s North magnetic
ribbons (i.e. perpendicular to the electrical polarization of the PZT Pole. It is clearly seen from this figure that by rotating the sensor in
plate). For testing the sensor operation in the range of the geomag- horizontal plane from ϕ = 0–360◦ , the sensor signal varies periodi-
netic field strength, a Helmholtz coil supplied by a Keithley 230 cally with ϕ, reaching a maximum value of 356 mV in the parallel

Fig. 8. Sensor construction: Ni-based Metglas/PZT 15 mm × 1 mm laminates (a) and sensor prototype where the coil generating an ac field directly wraps around the ME
laminate (b).
82 D.T.H. Giang et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 179 (2012) 78–82

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geomagnetic-field sensor is prepared on the basis of the optimal
laminate configuration. The sensor can detect precisely not only
D.T. Huong Giang received her PhD degree in Physics from the Rouen University,
the strength, but also the orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field.
France in 2005. In 2006, she joined the Faculty of Engineering Physics and Nano-
A high sensibility of 0.871 V/Oe and a resolution in the order of technology at VNU University of Engineering and Technology, Vietnam National
10−4 Oe without amplification make this configuration a poten- University, Hanoi, where she is currently an assistant professor. Her research
interests include magnetostrictive, magnetoresistance, magnetoelectric and mul-
tial sensor for applications in novel smart compasses and global
tiferroics materials, sensors and microsystems.
positioning devices.
P.A. Duc received his BSc and MSc degree in Physics from Hanoi National University
in 2004 and 2007, respectively. He is currently working on his PhD dissertation in
Acknowledgements the area of magnetoelectric composites and applications.

N.T. Ngoc has studied at the University of Engineering and Technology, Vietnam
This work was supported by Vietnam National University, Hanoi National University, Hanoi and is finishing her master in Nanotechnology. She is
under the granted Research Project QG 09.29, by the NAFOSTED of developing 3D-sensor for geomagnetic applications.
Vietnam under the Research Project Number 103.02.86.09 and by
N.H. Duc joined the Cryogenic Laboratory, University of Hanoi as researcher after
the National Program for Space Technology of Vietnam. The authors his graduation from the same group in 1980. He obtained his doctor degree in the
thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. N.T. Hien from the VNU University of Engi- same group in 1988. He has then received the French Habilitation in Physics at the
neering and Technology for critical reading of the manuscript. Joseph Fourier University of Grenoble in 1997 and became a full professor of the Col-
lege of Technology (now VNU University of Engineering and Technology), Vietnam
National University, Hanoi in 2004. His extended research includes various aspects
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