This paper reports two novel sensing modes for the 3axis Hall-effect sensor based on an inverted pyramid structure. The proposed current-spinning schemes enable 3-axis magnetic field measurements with reduced readout complexity (6 less switching phases for 3D1) while preserving sensitivity and offset. Residual offsets in the millitesla range at 1 V supply voltage were measured on three identical samples using 6 - or 12 -phase current spinning sequences, with in-plane voltage and currentrelated sensitivities up to 16.7 mV/ V/ T and 86.1 V/ A/ T, respectively. These modes represent a more efficient and simpler readout method for the pyramid sensor, while remaining competitive with the state-of-the-art.

Microelectronic magnetic sensors are essential in diverse applications, including automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics. Hall-effect devices hold the largest share of the magnetic sensor market, and they are particularly valued for their reliability, low cost and CMOS compatibility. This paper introduces a novel 3-axis Hall-effect sensor element based on an inverted pyramid structure, realized by leveraging MEMS micromachining and CMOS processing. The devices are manufactured by etching the pyramid openings with TMAH and implanting the sloped walls with n-dopants to define the active area. Through the use of various bias-sense detection modes, the device is able to detect both in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic fields within a single compact structure. In addition, the offset can be significantly reduced by one to three orders of magnitude by employing the current-spinning method. The device presented in this work demonstrated high in-plane and out-of-plane current- and voltage-related sensitivities ranging between 64.1 to 198 V A⁻¹ T⁻¹ and 14.8 to 21.4 mV V⁻¹ T⁻¹, with crosstalk below 4.7%. The sensor exhibits a thermal noise floor which corresponds to approximately 0.5μT/Hz at 1.31 V supply. This novel Hall-effect sensor represents a promising and simpler alternative to existing state-of-the-art 3-axis magnetic sensors, offering a viable solution for precise and reliable magnetic field sensing in various applications such as position feedback and power monitoring. (Figure presented.)

This article presents a hybrid magnetic current sensor for contactless current measurement. Pick-up coils and Hall plates are employed to sense the high and low-frequency fields, respectively, generated by a current-carrying conductor. Due to the differentiating characteristic of the pick-up coils, a flat frequency response can then be obtained by summing the outputs of the coil and the Hall paths and passing the result through a 1st-order low-pass filter (LPF). For maximum resolution, the LPF corner frequency (2 kHz) is set such that the noise contribution of each path is equal. To suppress the coil-path offset without the use of large ac coupling capacitors, an area-efficient dual dc servo loop (D3SL) is used. This effectively suppresses the coil-path offset, resulting in a total offset of 73 μT , which is mainly dominated by the Hall path. Fabricated in a standard 0.18-μm CMOS process, the current sensor occupies 3.9 mm2 and draws 7.1 mA from a 1.8 V supply. It achieves 43 mA resolution in a 5 MHz bandwidth, which is 1.5 × better than the state-of-the-art hybrid sensors. It also achieves the lowest energy efficiency FoM (3.5 ×) among CMOS magnetic current sensors.

This article presents a hybrid magnetic current sensor for galvanically isolated measurements. It consists of a CMOS chip that senses the magnetic field generated by current flowing through a lead-frame-based current rail. Hall plates and coils are used to sense low-frequency (dc to 10 kHz) and high-frequency (10 kHz to 5 MHz) magnetic fields, respectively. With the help of on- chip calibration coils, the biasing current of the Hall plates is trimmed to match the sensitivity of the Hall and coil signal paths. The sensitivity drift of the coil path with temperature is compensated by using temperature-dependent gain-setting resistors, while the drift of the Hall path is compensated by biasing the Hall plates with a proportional- to-absolute-temperature (PTAT) current. The resulting sensitivity drift is less than 9% from-40 °C to 80 °C. The offset of the Hall plates is reduced by the current spinning technique, and the resulting ripple is suppressed by a multiplexed ripple-reduction loop (MMRL). Fabricated in a standard 0.18-μm CMOS process, the current sensor occupies 4.6 mm2 and draws 7.8 mA from a 1.8-V supply. It achieves a gain variation of only ±2% in a 5-MHz BW. It also achieves high energy efficiency, with an figure of merit (FoM) of 1.6 fW/Hz.

Magnetic current sensors are widely used in applications where galvanic isolation and wide bandwidth (BW) are desired, such as in switched-mode power supplies and motor drivers. By using Hall plates for low frequencies and pick-up coils for high frequencies, hybrid magnetic sensors can achieve high resolution (tens of textmA) over a wide frequency range (up to 15MHz) [1]-[3]. However, previous designs exhibit either poor gain flatness over frequency or limited energy efficiency. This work presents a hybrid magnetic current sensor that textachievespm 1. 1% gain flatness, which is 3times better than prior art [1]-[3]. Its energy efficiency is also 11times better than the state-of-the-art [1], [4], [5].

Magnetic current sensors are used in switched-mode power supplies and motor drivers, where both galvanic isolation and wide bandwidth (BW) are desired. In CMOS, Hall-effect sensors are widely used, but their resistance results in a fundamental trade-off between BW and resolution. Coils have a differentiating characteristic and so can achieve much wider BW and resolution, but cannot sense DC.