From the viewpoint of electric circuit theory, the three fundamental two-terminal passive circuit elements, resistor R , capacitor C, and inductor L, are defined in terms of a relationship between two of the four basic circuit variables, charge q, current i, voltage v, and magnetic flux φ. From a symmetry concern, there should be a fourth fundamental element defined from the relationship between charge q and magnetic flux φ. Here we present both theoretical analysis and experimental evidences to demonstrate that a two-terminal passive device employing the magnetoelectric (ME) effects can exhibit a direct relationship between charge q and magnetic flux φ, and thus is able to act as the fourth fundamental circuit element. The ME effects refer to the induction of electric polarization by a magnetic field or magnetization by an electric field, and have attracted enormous interests due to their promise in many applications. However, no one has linked the ME effects with fundamental circuit theory. Both the linear and nonlinear-memory devices, termed transtor and memtranstor, respectively, have been experimentally realized using multiferroic materials showing strong ME effects. Based on our work, a full map of fundamental two-terminal circuit elements is constructed, which consists of four linear and four nonlinear-memory elements. This full map provides an invaluable guide to developing novel circuit functionalities in the future.
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