Exploration of magnetoelectric thin-film sensors using superlattice composition spreads

Fabrication of artificial magnetoelectric thin films by creating superlattice structures where piezoelectric materials and piezomagnetic materials are modulated in periods of multiple unit cells is explored in this paper. Superlattice composition spreads are fabricated by combinatorial pulsed laser deposition where one end of the spreads is a pure piezoelectric material and the other end is a pure piezomagnetic material. Thus BaTiO/sub 3/-CoFe/sub 2/O/sub 4/ and PbTiO/sub 3/-CoFe/sub 2/O/sub 4/ spreads are fabricated. Microwave microscopy and scanning SQUID microscopy are used to determine the respective ferroic properties across the spread.