| The fabrication of magnetoelectric materials have long been sought as a means of expanding the ways in which engineers can interact with electronic devices, specifically in the area of driving magnetism directly with applied electric fields. While significant research has been conducted on thin-film heterostructure architectures, these systems are mired by non-ideal interface geometries, substrate clamping effects, and in-plane magnetic anisotropy. The research presented here seeks to explore the extent of magnetoelectric coupling in a nanostructured system, specifically exploring the BiFeO 3-NiFe2O4 composite system in the resonant-coupling regime, which has shown to produce the strongest magnetoelectric coupling to date. This dissertation reviews the materials selection process that led to the aforementioned system as the ideal one for these studies, the material deposition procedure, and subsequent process optimization with regard to structural, electrical, and magnetic properties, each of which is integral to understanding the magnetoelectric coupling in the system. Finally, the material system is characterized magnetoelectrically by studying the effect of applied electric fields on the ferromagnetic resonance condition of the composite thin films. |
