Magnetic Sensors Based on Hall Effect

Abstract

The Hall effect was discovered by Edwin Hall in 1879. Hall found that when a magnet was placed with its field flowing perpendicular to the face of a thin rectangle of gold through which current was flowing, a difference in potential appeared at the opposite edges. This chapter provides a detailed description of horizontal and vertical Hall plates. It discusses the current‐mode technique and its comparison with the voltage‐mode technique. The chapter also provides the state‐of‐the‐art in Hall magnetic sensors. It presents an overview of the characteristics of the Hall magnetic sensors in CMOS technology. The chapter further presents a few examples of Hall magnetic sensors such as biosensors, contactless current sensors, angular position sensor, linear position sensor, contactless joystick sensor, electronic compass, speed and timing sensors, and specific sensors.