Hall Element and Magnetic Sensor

Abstract

A Hall element is provided which has a high sensitivity and contributes to an improvement in S/N ratio per current by using a low-concentration n-well within a suitable range. The Hall element includes a p-type semiconductor substrate layer 21 of p-type silicon, and an n-type impurity region 22 located in a surface of the p-type semiconductor substrate layer 21, the n-type impurity region 22 functioning as a magnetic sensing part 26. A p-type impurity region 23 is located in a surface of the n-type impurity region 22, and n-type regions 24 are located laterally of the p-type impurity region 23. A p-type substrate region 21a having a resistivity equal to that of the p-type semiconductor substrate layer 21 is located to extend around the n-type impurity region 22. An impurity concentration N in the n-type impurity region 22 functioning as the magnetic sensing part 26 is preferably from 1×1016 to 3×1016 (atoms/cm3), and a distribution depth D of the impurity concentration is preferably from 3.0 μm to 5.0 μm.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.