In this work, the resonance enhancement of magnetoelectric (ME) coupling at the two lowest bending resonance frequencies was investigated in layered cantilever structures comprising a magnetoactive elastomer (MAE) slab and a commercially available piezoelectric polymer multilayer. A cantilever was fixed at one end in the horizontal plane and the magnetic field was applied horizontally. Five composite structures, each containing an MAE layer of different thicknesses from 0.85 to 4 mm, were fabricated. The fundamental bending resonance frequency in the absence of a magnetic field varied between roughly 23 and 55 Hz. It decreased with the increasing thickness of the MAE layer, which was explained by a simple theory. The largest ME voltage coefficient of about 7.85 V/A was measured in a sample where the thickness of the MAE layer was ≈2 mm. A significant increase in the bending resonance frequencies in the applied DC magnetic field of 240 kA/m up to 200% was observed. The results were compared with alternative designs for layered multiferroic structures. Directions for future research were also discussed.

Magnetoelectric (ME) effects in multiferroic ferromagnet-piezoelectric composite heterostructures result in a change in the electric polarization under the action of magnetic field or a change in the magnetization under the action of electric field and, therefore, are interesting from scientific point of view and for applications. In this work, the direct and converse ME effects are experimentally studied when a planar amorphous ferromagnet – piezoelectric lead zirconate-titanate structure is excited by magnetic and electrical field pulses with duration from microseconds to tens of milliseconds. Under the action of magnetic field pulses, the structure generates damped voltage oscillations with a frequency equal to the acoustic resonance frequency of the structure, as well as an exponentially decreasing dc voltage. By choosing the duration of magnetic pulses, it is possible selectively excite the linear ME effect in the structure or generate the second voltage harmonic at the resonance frequency. Electrical field pulses result in the excitation of damped magnetization oscillations at the resonance frequency of the heterostructure. The pulsed excitation method allows to estimate the ME conversion coefficients for both the direct and converse ME effects.