Controlled extrinsic magnetoelectric coupling in BaTiO3/Ni nanocomposites: Effect of compaction pressure on interfacial anisotropy

The dynamical control of the dielectric response in magnetoelectric (ME) nanocomposites (NCs) renders an entire additional degree of freedom to the functionality of miniaturized magnetoelectronics and spintronics devices. In composite materials, the ME effect is realized by using the concept of product properties. Through the investigation of the microwave properties of a series of BaTiO3/Ni NCs fabricated by compaction of nanopowders, we present experimental evidence that the compaction (uniaxial) pressure in the range 33-230 MPa affects significantly the ME features. The Ni loading was varied from zero (BaTiO3 only) to 63 vol %. Our findings revealed that the ME coupling coefficient exhibits a large enhancement for specific values of the Ni volume fraction and compaction pressure. The coupling effects in the NCs were studied by looking at the relationships among the crystallite orientation and the magnetic properties. The magnetization curves for different directions of the applied magnetic field cannot be superimposed. We suggest that the average magnetization measurements on these NCs under compressive stress are dominated by strain anisotropy rather than magnetocrystalline anisotropy. Overall, these observations are considered to be evidence of stress-induced microstructural changes under pressure which strongly affect the elastic interaction between the magnetostrictive and piezoelectric phases in these NCs. These results have a potential technological impact for designing precise tunable ME NCs for microwave devices such as tunable phase shifters, resonators, and delay lines.