Electric field feedback for Magneto(elasto)Electric magnetometer development

Magneto(elasto)Electric (ME) sensors based on magnetostrictive-piezoelectric composites have been investigated to evaluate their performances to sense a magnetic signal. Previous results have shown that the dielectric loss noise in the piezoelectric layer exhibits as the dominant intrinsic noise at low frequencies, which limits the sensor performances. Also, it has intrinsically no DC capability. To avoid a part of this limitation, modulation detection methods are evaluated through a frequency up-conversion technique [1-4]. Moreover, classical magnetic field feedback techniques can be used to increase the dynamic range, the sensing stability and the system linearity, too. In this paper, we propose a new method to feedback the system by using both the magneto-capacitance modulation and an electric field feedback technique. Our development shows the feasibility of the method and the results match with the theoretical description and material properties. Even if the present results are not totally satisfactory, they give the proof of concept and yield a way for the development of very low power magnetometers. (paper)