Influence of the state of interfaces on the magnitude of the magnetoelectric effect in Co (Ni) films on PbZr 0.45 Ti 0.55 O 3 and GaAs substrates

Co (Ni) films on ceramic lead zirconate titanate (PbZr 0.45 Ti 0.55 O 3 ) ferroelectric substrates and single-crystal GaAs piezoelectric substrates are shown to exhibit a giant magnetoelectric response, which reaches 200 V/A at room temperature and mechanical Q of at least 1000. These findings are interpreted in terms of the formation of stable interfaces in thin-film heterostructures owing to good adhesion of dissimilar materials to substrate surfaces after ion beam sputtering/deposition processing. This will allow one to extend the applicability of the magnetoelectric effect at room temperature to commercially available microelectronic materials and integrate related hybrid structures into single-chip signal generation/processing devices.