Abstract
The influence of an additional La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO) magnetic phase on the structural, ferromagnetic, ferroelectric, and magnetoelectric properties of Ba0.85Ca0.15Zr0.1Ti0.9O3 (BCZT) ferroelectric phase was studied for composites of (1-x)BCZT -xLSMO (x = 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%). The ferroelectric BCZT sample showed a perovskite single phase formation with a tetragonal crystal structure of the P4mm space group, and the magnetic phase of LSMO presented a rhombohedral crystal structure of R3c space group as shown by XRD. The composite sample with 25% LSMO exhibited large ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties with remnant, saturation polarization, and coercive electric field P-r similar to 7.74 mu C/cm(2), P-s similar to 11.69 mu C/cm(2) and E-C similar to 12.22 kV/cm with a piezoelectric coefficient d(33) similar to 231 pC/N. The magnetic characterization for the composites showed that the sample containing 75% of LSMO revealed the highest remnant, saturation magnetization, and coercive field of M-r similar to 1.358 emu/g, M-s similar to 19.17 emu/g, and H-C similar to 33.19 Oe, respectively. Moreover, it revealed the largest magnetoelectric coupling coefficient alpha(ME) similar to 2.51 mV/cm.Oe with high coupling quality at a lower applied magnetic field. The results highlight the value of these composites as lead-free room temperature magnetoelectric sensors and actuators.