Grant: Discovery Launch Supplement

The optical properties of ferrimagnetic crystals can be exploited and used to engineer novel rapid tunable microwave devices such as filters and oscillators capable of revolutionizing telecommunication systems, functional microelectronics, and space and satellite technologies. Magnetic materials are the "heart" components of various microwave and functional electronic devices and therefore, have been one of the primary focuses of material science over the past fifty years. One of the main challenges is to control their resonance frequency and tune it. There are two approaches employed in commercially available tunable microwave devices to resolve this challenge: a) heating of the magnetic crystal resulting in the change of saturation magnetization and therefore, in resonance frequency; and b) alternation of the external magnetic field by electromagnets embedded into the microwave device. These strategies, however, have multiple significant disadvantages, including high-power consumption, large size and weight caused by the addition of the electromagnets, low-temperature stability and frequency drift, and limited tuning range. Presently, the main approach to resolving these issues is the development of materials with a magnetoelectric effect (ME), which manifests itself via crystalline magnetic properties change due to the applied electric field. Although there are numerous groups worldwide that are studying, developing, and implementing ME-possessing ferrites in microwave electronics, no one to date has studied the utilization of ferrite crystals for radiation detection purposes or the optical properties of ferrites. Therefore, a vast knowledge gap exists in the field and the understanding of radiation effects on ME is lacking. To overcome the aforementioned challenges and to enhance the ME effect in ferrite crystals, I have developed and demonstrated, for the first time, a photoinduced magnetoelectric effect (PNME) in substituted barium ferrite. The PNME effect was almost twice as strong when compared to the previously studied non-linear ME, demonstrating the feasibility of developing adaptive microwave devices and radiation detectors based on PNME. Considering the high significance of the recently discovered PNME for material science and functional electronics, I am aiming to expand the investigation of the PNME effect and establish a unique research program dedicated to creating PNME-possessing materials and their implementation. The outcomes of my research program will be highly beneficial for the Canadian economy and manufacturing sectors, will boost Canadian telecommunication and space technologies, and strengthen Canada's leading position in the international healthcare arena. The successful completion of this program will constitute a fundamentally new material science research paradigm that will put Canada, and specifically Northwestern Ontario, at the forefront of modern multiferroic material development.