  This study introduces a method for the characterization of the
magnetoelectric coupling in nanoscale Pb(Zr,Ti)O3/CoFeB thin film composites
based on propagating spin-wave spectroscopy. Finite element simulations of the
strain distribution in the devices indicated that the magnetoelastic effective
field in the CoFeB waveguides was maximized in the Damon - Eshbach
configuration. All-electrical broadband propagating spin-wave transmission
measurements were conducted on Pb(Zr,Ti)O3/CoFeB magnetoelectric waveguides
with lateral dimensions down to 700 nm. The results demonstrated that the
spin-wave resonance frequency can be modulated by applying a bias voltage to
Pb(Zr,Ti)O3. The modulation is hysteretic due to the ferroelastic behavior of
Pb(Zr,Ti)O3. An analytical model was then used to correlate the change in
resonance frequency to the induced magnetoelastic field in the magnetostrictive
CoFeB waveguide. We observe a hysteresis magnetoelastic field strength with
values as large as 5.61 mT, and a non-linear magnetoelectric coupling
coefficient with a maximum value of 1.69 mT/V.
