Novel laminated multiferroic heterostructures for reconfigurable microwave devices

Voltage tuning of magnetism is fundamentally and technically important for fast, compact and ultra-low power electronic devices. Multiferroic heterostructures, simultaneously exhibiting distinct ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties, have caught a lot of attentions because of the capability of controlling magnetism by a voltage via a strain-mediated magnetoelectric (ME) coupling. In these materials, a voltage-induced strain is involved to create an effective magnetic field and change ferromagnetic resonance frequency in the coupled ferromagnetic phases through magnetoelastic interactions. Therefore, the devices made of such materials are compact, ultra-fast and energy efficient, providing new functionalities for microwave components. This paper will review the recent progress of multiferroics and their applications in microwave devices from different aspects, including the creation of the novel laminated multiferroic heterostructures with a strong ME coupling, the realization of the multiferroics based on tunable microwave signal processors and the investigation of nonvolatile tuning of microwave properties using ferroelastic domain switching in multiferroic heterostructures. These tunable multiferroic heterostructures and devices offer great opportunities for realizing the next generation of tunable magnetic microwave components, ultra-low power electronics and spintronics.