What is Magnetoelectric Effect?

The magnetoelectric effect (ME) refers to any coupling between the magnetic and the electric properties of a material, such as the electric polarization induced by an applied magnetic field, or the proportional magnetization induced by an applied electric field. The most studied example of the magnetoelectric effect is the linear magnetoelectric effect. 

Linear Magnetoelectric Effect

The linear magnetoelectric (ME) effect is a substance's magnetization response to an applied electric field or the equivalent electric polarization caused by a magnetic field. It can be created by an electric field altering the angles and distances amongst magnetic ions, thus modifying the magnetic interchange interactions; or a magnetic field reorienting spin magnetic moment, thereby modifying the electronic charge density through the spin-orbit coupling. Notably, the linear magnetoelectric effect enables the concurrent use of magnetic and electric fields to reorient antiferromagnetic domains. This has applications in the electrical control of interchange bias.

History

Wilhelm Röntgen reported the first magnetoelectric phenomenon in 1888, demonstrating that a dielectric substance moving through an electric field would become magnetized. In 1894, Pierre Curie proposed the idea of an inherent magnetoelectric effect in a (non-moving) material, and Peter Debye developed the name "magnetoelectric" in 1926. In 1959, Igor Ekhielevich Dzyaloshinskii determined the form of a linear magnetoelectric coupling in Chromium (III) oxide (Cr2O3) using an argument based on symmetry. As a result of rising interest, a new conference series was organized, called MEIPIC (Magnetoelectric Interaction Phenomena in Crystals). More than 80 linear magnetoelectric compounds were discovered between Dzialoshinskii's forecast and the first edition of the MEIPIC (1973). 

Uses and Application

The magnetoelectric effect (ME) has several uses in electronics technology, including data storage and switching devices, power generators, transformers, resonators, filters, magnetic field sensors, phase shifters, current sensors, improved logic circuits, and adjustable microwave filters.