Background: The proposed inventions are permanent reconfigurable magnetoelectric microwave devices which have the novel ability to permanently reconfigure any generic RF microwave device utilizing a magnetoelectric (ME) heterostructure. In current ME microwave devices the frequency tunability can be realized by applying either an external magnetic field or an electric voltage. The latter is referred to as electric voltage-induced tunable microwave devices which have a faster response and lower power consumption compared to the magnetic control approach. However current electrically tunable microwave devices continuously consume electrical energy to permanently maintain the operating frequency due to current flowing through the device. Technology Description: This invention details a novel electrically reconfigurable ME microwave device having the ability to reconfigure the operating frequency permanently by applying an electric field pulse. The operating frequency is permanently retained after applying and releasing an electric voltage which can significantly reduce power consumption. This novel permanent operation mode applies to any RF microwave devices based on ferroelectric/ferromagnetic heterostructures. Applications: Tunable microwave devices
Reduced energy consumption of reconfigurable microwave devices