Demagnetizing factors for two parallel ferromagnetic plates and their applications to magnetoelectric laminated sensors

An analytical expression is derived to approximate the magnetometric demagnetizing factors for two parallel ferromagnetic plates having the shape of rectangular prisms. The magnetometric demagnetizing factors relate the average magnetic fields within the plates' volumes to an external magnetic field. Knowing this relationship is essential for describing the response of magnetoelectric sensors comprising two parallel magnetostrictive plates. It is shown that two separate ferromagnetic layers provide better field sensitivity than a single layer with a doubled thickness. The obtained results are in a good agreement with numerical calculations and experimental data. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3536518]