Parameters Affecting the Magnetoelectric Response of Magnetostrictive/Piezoelectric Polymer Laminates Andoni Lasheras 1,a , Jon Gutiérrez 1,b , Jose Manuel Barandiarán 1,c D.A. Shishkin 2 and A.P. Potapov 2 1 BCMaterials and Departamento Electricidad y Electrónica, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080-Bilbao, Spain 2 Institute of Metal Physics UD RAS, 620990 Ekaterinburg, Russia a andoni.lasheras@ehu.es, b jon@we.lc.ehu.es, c manub@we.lc.ehu.es Keywords: magnetostrictive/piezoelectric polymer composite, magnetoelectric response, temperature dependence of the magnetoelectric response. Abstract. Fabrication of magnetoelectric laminates to be used high sensitivity sensors is a critical task and turns out to be influenced by different factors. Among them, the length of the composite (that determines the working frequency of the device) and the epoxy glue characteristics and cure process (that determines the ME signal measured at high temperatures) are of great importance. Here we present results concerning the magnetoelectric response of laminate composites fabricated with an Fe 61,6 Co 16,4 Si 10,8 B 11,2 amorphous alloy as the magnetostrictive component and the poly- vinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer as the piezoelectric one. Measurements have been performed with composites ranging from 3 cm to 1 cm length and from room temperature up to 100 ºC. As observed, an appropriate gluing process between magnetostrictive and piezoelectric components assures the measured magnetoelectric signal to keep constant up to about 60 ºC, a temperature where the α-relaxation of the PVDF occurs and the piezoelectric response starts decaying. On the other hand, magnetoelastic resonance (working) frequencies change from 67.5 KHz for the device with L=3 cm to 215 KHz (within the radio-frequency range) for the 1 cm long one. Even for the shortest laminate, we are still able to detect some 6 V/cm.Oe at 100 ºC. This makes such laminate composites suitable for high temperature and high frequency applications. Introduction The magnetoelectric effect (ME) is defined as the electrical field (or voltage) induced under the application of a magnetic field (direct ME), or vice versa, as the magnetic induction induced under the application of an electrical field (inverse ME). It was first observed more than 50 years ago in single- [1] and poly-crystals [2] of single-phased materials, being a weak effect observed only at low temperatures. The necessary alternative to make the magnitude of this effect useful was to convert the known (multiferroic) magnetoelectric materials to composite systems (see,for example [3-5]) and today new combinations with high permeability magnetostrictive materials such as iron-based Metglas-like alloys and PVDF piezoelectric polymer are being tested. Thus, at the longitudinal magnetoelastic resonance (MER), Jin et al [6] reported a magnetoelectric voltage coefficient of 383 V/cm.Oe on cross-linked P(VDF-TrFE)/Metglas 2605 SA1, the highest reported to date. Usually these measurements have been performed at room temperature. New trends for magnetoelectric devices when used as high sensitivity sensors, point towards high temperature and radio-frequency applications. In this work we present results concerning the magnetoelectric response of laminate composites fabricated with an Fe 61,6 Co 16,4 Si 10,8 B 11,2 amorphous alloy as the magnetostrictive component and the poly-vinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer as the piezoelectric one. Measurements have been performed with composites ranging from 3 cm to 1 cm length and from room temperature up to 100 ºC. Fabrication of such laminates is a Key Engineering Materials Vol. 644 (2015) pp 40-44 © (2015) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.644.40 All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of TTP, www.ttp.net. (ID: 150.241.187.158, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain-05/03/15,18:19:59)