Substantial magnetoelectric response in 2/3[Pb(Mg<inf>1/3</inf>Nb<inf>2/3</inf>)O<inf>3</inf>]−1/3[PbTiO<inf>3</inf>]-CoFe<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> composites

Particulate type multiferroic composites, which exhibit coupling between piezoelectric and magnetostrictive phases via strain, have a wide range of industrial applications. We have investigated the structural, electrical, magnetic, morphological properties and magnetoelectric (ME) along with magnetodielectric (MD) responses of (1-x){2/3[Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3]−1/3[PbTiO3]}:x[CoFe2O4], (1-x)[PMN-PT]-x[CFO] composites with x = 10%, 15%, 20% and 30% in molar ratios. The composite with 80:20 ratio is found to exhibit the highest magnetoelectric coefficient (αME) ~ 4.30 mV/cm Oe (at 1 kHz, 300 K), and the value of αME further increases with increasing frequency, reaches up to a value as large as seven times of this off-resonance value, at a resonance frequency of 286 kHz. The MD response of this composite reaches a maximum ~ 0.28%, at ~ 1.5 T. The substantial ME & MD responses in this 80:20 composite makes it a viable candidate for its use in magnetic field sensors and energy harvesters.