Magneto-resistive magnetic field sensor with a constricted region
First Claim
1. A magneto-resistive magnetic field sensor, comprising two electrical connections and a body of magnetic material, said body being arranged to form at least a part of an electrically conductive path between said electrical connections, the electrical resistance of said path being a measure of magnetic field strength in at least a portion of said body, characterized in that said body comprises two layers of magnetic material interconnected by a constricted region formed of magnetic material, said constricted region being part of said current path and having a direction of sensing current flow through the constriction, each of said layers having a respective volume and the constricted region having a volume much less than the smaller of said respective volumes.
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Abstract
Two magnetic layers are mutually interconnected by a constricted region also made of a magnetic material. The layers may be separated by an intermediate non-metallic layer having a hole filed with magnetic material to from the constricted region. Alternatively, the layers and constricted region may be substantially co-planar. The constricted region minimum cross-section dimension preferably is less than one micron, and ideally of the order of 100 nm, thus being much smaller than the diameter of a magnetic domain. A high magneto-resistance ratio is obtained, and electrical and magnetic properties of the sensor can be adjusted largely independently.
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Citations
17 Claims
- 1. A magneto-resistive magnetic field sensor, comprising two electrical connections and a body of magnetic material, said body being arranged to form at least a part of an electrically conductive path between said electrical connections, the electrical resistance of said path being a measure of magnetic field strength in at least a portion of said body, characterized in that said body comprises two layers of magnetic material interconnected by a constricted region formed of magnetic material, said constricted region being part of said current path and having a direction of sensing current flow through the constriction, each of said layers having a respective volume and the constricted region having a volume much less than the smaller of said respective volumes.
Specification