Low offset vertical Hall device and current spinning method
First Claim
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1. A vertical Hall-effect sensor system disposed on a semiconductor substrate, comprising:
- a first conductive Hall-effect region arranged beneath a surface of the semiconductor substrate;
at least two supply terminals arranged to supply electrical energy to the first Hall-effect region;
at least one Hall signal terminal arranged to provide a first Hall signal from the first Hall-effect region, the first Hall signal being indicative of a magnetic field which is parallel to the surface of the semiconductor substrate and which acts on the first Hall-effect region;
wherein one or more of the at least two supply terminals or one or more of the at least one Hall signal terminal comprises a force contact and a sense contact; and
a feedback control circuit comprising;
an output connected to the force contact and having a first impedance,an input connected to the sense contact and having a second impedance, the second impedance being higher than the first impedance, anda feedback loop to adjust a potential on the output of the feedback control circuit until a potential on the input of the feedback control circuit is equal to a reference potential.
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Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a vertical Hall-effect device. The device includes at least two supply terminals arranged to supply electrical energy to the first Hall-effect region; and at least one Hall signal terminal arranged to provide a first Hall signal from the first Hall-effect region. The first Hall signal is indicative of a magnetic field which is parallel to the surface of the semiconductor substrate and which acts on the first Hall-effect region. One or more of the at least two supply terminals or one or more of the at least one Hall signal terminal comprises a force contact and a sense contact.
22 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A vertical Hall-effect sensor system disposed on a semiconductor substrate, comprising:
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a first conductive Hall-effect region arranged beneath a surface of the semiconductor substrate; at least two supply terminals arranged to supply electrical energy to the first Hall-effect region; at least one Hall signal terminal arranged to provide a first Hall signal from the first Hall-effect region, the first Hall signal being indicative of a magnetic field which is parallel to the surface of the semiconductor substrate and which acts on the first Hall-effect region; wherein one or more of the at least two supply terminals or one or more of the at least one Hall signal terminal comprises a force contact and a sense contact; and a feedback control circuit comprising; an output connected to the force contact and having a first impedance, an input connected to the sense contact and having a second impedance, the second impedance being higher than the first impedance, and a feedback loop to adjust a potential on the output of the feedback control circuit until a potential on the input of the feedback control circuit is equal to a reference potential. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification