Magnetostrictive multi-layer sensor for detecting a deformation

Abstract

A sensor includes a substrate having a mechanically deformable region that is deformable in a direction non-parallel to a surface of the substrate, and a magnetostrictive multi-layer sensor element configured to detect a mechanical deformation of the mechanically deformable region in a direction that is non-parallel to the substrate surface. The multi-layer sensor element includes a sensor layer having a material having a positive or a negative magnetostriction constant. The sensor further includes a device, arranged on the substrate, that is configured to generate a controllable magnetic field by which a performance of the magnetostrictive multi-layer sensor element is influenced, wherein the magnetostrictive multi-layer sensor element exhibits an electrical resistance that is a function of the controllable magnetic field and a deformation of the mechanically deformable region.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.