Thermal stability of magnetoelectric sensors

The effect of temperature on the equivalent magnetic noise floor of Metglas-Pb(Zr, Ti)O-3 (PZT) laminate magnetoelectric (ME) sensors has been investigated in the temperature range of -50 degrees C to 50 degrees C. In detail, the parameters that control the noise floor of ME sensors, such as capacitance, tan delta, and ME charge coefficient, were characterized. The results show the noise floor was thermally stable around 30 pT/root Hz (f = 1Hz) over the studied temperature range. To demonstrate the relative invariance of ME sensor at different temperatures over the range studied, a simulation based on a noise model was conducted, where the predicted and measured equivalent magnetic noise floors were found to well agree. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4705298]