Wireless strain sensor based on the magnetic strain anisotropy dependent ferromagnetic resonance

Abstract

Wireless strain sensors have received extensive attention owing to their wide application prospects in structural health monitoring, industrial automation, human activity monitoring, and intelligent robotic systems. Here, a wireless strain sensor prototype based on the magnetoelectric heterostructure of ferromagnetic thin films on a piezoelectric substrate has been developed. The ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) frequency of the sensor is strongly dependent on external strain due to the large magnetostriction of the film. The piezoelectric substrate with a programmable voltage has been used as a strain source for the characterization of the wireless strain sensor. The limit of detection of the wireless strain sensor is 0.54 με, which is comparable with that of commercial metal-foil sensors that need connection wires. More importantly, the FMR strain sensor shows a sensitivity of 65.46 ppm/με, indicating more than a 60 fold improvement than that of traditional wireless strain sensors based on patch antenna and RLC resonators whose frequency shift is mainly due to the strain induced dimension change.