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Multiferroic materials present several ferroic orders, i.e. ferromagnetic, ferroelectric and/or ferroelastic. The coupling between these ferroic orders allow the control of the magnetic properties by applying an electric field and vice versa. In order to use their multifunctionality in new applications, this coupling must be efficient at room temperature. This thesis concentrates on materials artificially coupling together a ferromagnetic/ magnetostrictive phase with a ferroelectric/piezoelectric one. The coupling between these two phases is called magnetoelectric (ME). The first chapter describes the state of the art of this ME coupling for different multiferroic composite structures. Characterization techniques and micromagnetic simulation tools are presented in the second chapter. In the third chapter, a hetero-structure given by a magnetostrictive film/flexible substrate/piezoelectric actuator (FeCuNbSiB/Kapton/PE) is studied. The magnetic domains of FeCuNbSiB as well as their orientation are controlled by applying an electric field and studied by local microscopy (MFM). The fourth chapter focuses on a nanocomposite material including magnetostrictive nanoparticles in a flexible piezoelectric matrix (PVDF polymer). The effect of these inclusions (nanoparticles) on the local piezoelectric response of the PVDF is studied by piezoeponse microscopy (PFM). Symmetrically, the influence of the piezoelectric matrix on the static magnetic properties of the nanoparticles is analyzed. In the last chapter, the optimization of the magnetic properties of a set of anisotropic nanoparticles (cobalt nanowires) is studied as fonction of their structure, shape and mutual interactions. This experimental study is corroborated by simulations and targets new composites ME materials including the anisotropic nanoparticles in a flexible piezoelectric matrix. ; Les matériaux multiferroïques présentent plusieurs ordres ferroïques, i.e. ferromagnétiques, ferroélectriques et/ou ferroélastiques. Le couplage entre ses ordres ferroïques permet de ...

Cette thèse porte sur la méthode magnétique appliquée à l'exploration géophysique d'une zone à caractère géothermique. L'étude se concentre sur la zone volcanique de Basse-Terre, à l'Ouest de la Guadeloupe, dont les fractures, les fluides et les flux de chaleur engendrent un fort potentiel géothermique. Ainsi, le plan de la thèse suit le cours d'une étude magnétique complète, ce qui commence par la compréhension du contexte et des objets à considérer, autant d'un point de vue économique que géologique puis géophysique. S'ensuit un travail de collecte et de traitement des données magnétiques existantes, menant à la conception de nouvelles techniques d'acquisition ou de traitement pour répondre aux besoins spécifiques de la zone d’étude. Les techniques d’acquisition magnétique proposées, par drone (données onshore) ou par bateau (données offshore), permettent d’obtenir des données multi-altitudes haute résolution. Une fois les données obtenues et traitées, elles sont interprétées à différentes échelles en parallèle des connaissances géologiques existantes. Une méthodologie d'inversion spectrale est également proposée. Enfin, un rapprochement est opéré à partir de toutes les données géophysiques pouvant être obtenues : méthode magnétotellurique, électromagnétisme en domaine transitoire et gravimétrie. ; This thesis focuses on the application of the magnetic method to the geophysical exploration of a geothermal area. The study area is located in the volcanic field of Basse-Terre, the westernmost island of Guadeloupe, where fractures, fluids and heat flows generate a high geothermal potential. Thus, this manuscript organization follows the course of an exhaustive magnetic study, which begins with the understanding of the considered context and objects, from the economic, geological and geophysical point of views. Then existing magnetic data are collected, leading to the design of new magnetic acquisition and processing methods to meet the specific constraints of the study area. The proposed acquisition techniques, ...

Abstract We have followed the evolution of the shape of an anionic ferrofluid magnetic drop in presence of a magnetic field. Above a certain field threshold, the drop jumps from a slightly elongated shape to a slender one. The relaxation time of this instability has a critical divergence.

Abstract The magnetoelectric effect of Cr2O3 single crystals has been studied in magnetic fields up to 20 T in the range of liquid helium to room temperature In the antiferromagnetic phase for low magnetic fields the well known results for the magnetoelectric effect below the Neel temperature were reproduced. In the spin-flop phase, for magnetic fields above a critical field (H > H crit ≃ 10 T), the magnetic field induced electric polarization has been measured along all three crystallographic directions. A magnetoelectric effect, linear in the magnetic field was found for the three orientalions leading to the conclusion that the magnetic ground state symmetry of the spin-flop phase is either 1′ or 2/m′, where 2′/m can be excluded.

Abstract Energy dissipation in collisionless plasmas is a long-standing fundamental physics problem. Although it is well known that magnetic reconnection and turbulence are coupled and transport energy from system-size scales to subproton scales, the details of the energy distribution and energy dissipation channels remain poorly understood. Especially, the energy transfer and transport associated with 3D small-scale reconnection that occurs as a consequence of a turbulent cascade is unknown. We use an explicit fully kinetic particle-in-cell code to simulate 3D small-scale magnetic reconnection events forming in anisotropic and decaying Alfvénic turbulence. We identify a highly dynamic and asymmetric reconnection event that involves two reconnecting flux ropes. We use a two-fluid approach based on the Boltzmann equation to study the spatial energy transfer associated with the reconnection event and compare the power density terms in the two-fluid energy equations with standard energy-based damping, heating, and dissipation proxies. Our findings suggest that the electron bulk flow transports thermal energy density more efficiently than kinetic energy density. Moreover, in our turbulent reconnection event, the energy density transfer is dominated by plasma compression. This is consistent with turbulent current sheets and turbulent reconnection events, but not with laminar reconnection.

Context. A magnetic cloud (MC) is a magnetic flux rope in the solar wind (SW), which, at 1 AU, is observed ∼2–5 days after its expulsion from the Sun. The associated solar eruption is observed as a coronal mass ejection (CME). Aims. Both the in situ observations of plasma velocity distribution and the increase in their size with solar distance demonstrate that MCs are strongly expanding structures. The aim of this work is to find the main causes of this expansion and to derive a model to explain the plasma velocity profiles typically observed inside MCs. Methods. We model the flux rope evolution as a series of force-free field states with two extreme limits: (a) ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and (b) minimization of the magnetic energy with conserved magnetic helicity. We consider cylindrical flux ropes to reduce the problem to the integration of ordinary differential equations. This allows us to explore a wide variety of magnetic fields at a broad range of distances to the Sun. Results. We demonstrate that the rapid decrease in the total SW pressure with solar distance is the main driver of the flux-rope radial expansion. Other effects, such as the internal over-pressure, the radial distribution, and the amount of twist within the flux rope have a much weaker influence on the expansion. We demonstrate that any force-free flux rope will have a self-similar expansion if its total boundary pressure evolves as the inverse of its length to the fourth power. With the total pressure gradient observed in the SW, the radial expansion of flux ropes is close to self-similar with a nearly linear radial velocity profile across the flux rope, as observed. Moreover, we show that the expansion rate is proportional to the radius and to the global velocity away from the Sun. Conclusions. The simple and universal law found for the radial expansion of flux ropes in the SW predicts the typical size, magnetic structure, and radial velocity of MCs at various solar distances.

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