Enhanced magnetoelectric torque effect in Pb(Zr,Ti)O3/NdFeB bi-cantilever composites

A piezoelectric/ferromagnetic bicantilever composite, constructed with a Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 beam fixed at the middle point and NdFeB magnets attached at both free ends, has been designed and exhibited a giant magnetoelectric torque (MET) effect. The low-frequency and resonant MET effect in the bicantilever composite is more than twice as much as that in the single cantilever composite with the same components and geometry dimension. As the magnet mass increases, the MET effect first increases nearly linearly and then tends to saturate while the resonant frequency decreases. When the magnets are attached asymmetrically at the tip, the MET effect is stronger than that of the symmetric attachment. Our results will give more choices for preparing the magnetoelectric device used as an ac magnetic field sensor, energy harvester, etc.