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US 2003/0155913 A1Published application
Two-dimensional magnetic sensor
AssigneeAichi Micro Intelligent Corporation
InventorsYoshinobu Honkura, Masaki Mori, Michiharu Yamamoto, Yoshiaki Koutani
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Abstract
The present invention is a two-dimensional magnetic sensor, comprising two miniaturized MI elements and an integrated circuit, which boasts a wide magnetic field measurability range, low power consumption, and an extremely small size, which is suitable for use as an electronic compass in, for instance, mobile devices like mobile phones.
Claims15
A two-dimensional magnetic sensor which detects external magnetic fields comprising:
- a first magneto-impedance sensor element, called the first MI element, provided to detect the first axial component of said external magnetic field, and which comprises a first magneto-sensitive element less than 2 mm long and a first electromagnetic coil which is wound around said first magneto-sensitive element;
- a second magneto-impedance sensor element, called the second MI element, provided to detect the second axial component of said external magnetic field and which comprises a second magneto-sensitive element less than 2 mm long and a second electromagnetic coil which is wound around said second magneto-sensitive element;
- and
- an integrated circuit comprising an oscillating means which supplies a pulse or high-frequency current, a means for switching current alternatingly between said first MI element and said second MI element, a means for detecting the output voltage from the electro-magnetic coils of said first and second MI elements, and an amplifier which amplifies the output voltage of said detection means.
1 more element
A two-dimensional magnetic-sensor which detects external magnetic field comprising;
- a first magneto-impedance sensor element, called the first MI element, mounted on a device mount board to detect a first axial component of the external magnetic field, comprises a first magneto-sensitive element and a first electromagnetic coil which is wound around said first magneto-sensitive element, a second magneto-impedance sensor element, called the second MI element, mounted on said device mount board to detect a second axial component of the external magnetic field and which comprises a second magneto-sensitive element and a second electromagnetic coil which is wound around said second magneto-sensitive element, said first and second electromagnetic coils have a two-layer structure comprising one side placed in the inner wall face of a short groove on said substrate and the other side is placed on the upper face of said groove, said first and second magneto-sensitive elements which are placed in the insulator which fills the space between said two sides of the electromagnetic coil are amorphous wires, and said two-dimensional magnetic sensor comprises a means for detecting which passes current to the first and second MI sensors and detects the output voltage of the electromagnetic coils of said first and second MI sensors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.