Magnetic Field-Assisted Piezoelectric Force Microscopy Investigation of PbTiO$_{3}$–TbDyFe Bilayered Nanocomposites

The magnetoelectric coupling in a bilayered composite consisting of a polycrystalline PbTiO
₃
and an amorphous TbDyFe layer was investigated by magnetic field-assisted piezoelectric force microscopy. Both the phase and the amplitude components of the piezoelectric signal undergo substantial changes upon applying an in-plane magnetic field, demonstrating the existence of a magnetoelectric coupling between the magnetic and electrostrictive layers. Consequently, the values of the longitudinal piezoelectric coefficient were found to decrease from 28.3 to 8.71 pm/V with increasing the magnetic field from 0 to 2 kOe.