Importance of composite parameters in enhanced power conversion efficiency of Terfenol-D/PZT magnetoelectric gyrators

摘要

A gyrator that is capable of current-to-voltage conversion can be realized with a magnetoelectric (ME) composite of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric phases placed in a coil. Here, we report the dependence of the power conversion efficiency (PE) on the relative thickness of the two ferroic phases in a gyrator of Terfenol-D and PZT. Both experimental and theoretical results on PE as a function of composite parameters, such as thickness ratio of the ferroic layers (n), magnetic field bias (H_(Bias)) and several gyrator parameters, such as the resistance load (R_L), were discussed. By decreasing the thickness ratio of Terfenol-D to composite (n = 0.28) in coil-ME gyrators, a high power efficiency of 73.9% was found at a fundamental resonance frequency of 72.5 kHz under a H_(Bias) of 1000 Oe and R_L = 2.6 kΩ in experiments. At the same time, the non-linear mechanical loss was reduced by decreasing the value of n which resulted in a flat response over a wide H_(Bias) range. This improved power efficiency promises ME gyrators for power transfer devices.