Hall sensor

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to a semiconductor Hall element, and more particularly, to a highly-sensitive Hall sensor capable of eliminating an offset voltage.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#In the accompanying drawings:

#FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a structure of a Hall element according to the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a diagram for describing the principle of an ideal Hall effect;

#FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a structure of a Hall element according to an embodiment of the present invention. The Hall element of this embodiment includes a Hall sensing portion 100 having shape of a cross and a fourfold axis, rectangular Hall voltage output terminals 111, 112, 113, and 114 at the respective centers of the front edges of four convex portions of the Hall sensing portion 100, and rectangular control current input terminals 121, 122, 123, and 124 in the vicinity of the respective centers of the sides of the convex portions. Of the control current input terminals, control current input terminals arranged in line along the sides of opposed convex portions are connected to each other via metal wiring to have the same potential. Accordingly, two control current input terminals form a pair, and four pairs are provided in total.

#In other words, in this embodiment, as the terminals connected to the Hall element, the Hall voltage output terminals and the control current input terminals are arranged independently of each other. In the conventional method, the same terminal serves as both the Hall voltage output terminal and the control current input terminal, and hence in order to eliminate an offset voltage, the respective shapes of the terminals cannot be changed depending on the functions. The terminals having both the two functions are thus all required to have the same shape heretofore.

#However, according to the present invention, the Hall voltage output terminals and the control current input terminals are arranged independently of each other, and hence the shapes of the two kinds of terminals can be determined independently. In order to eliminate the offset voltage, the Hall voltage output terminals 111, 112, 113, and 114 have the same shape, and the control current input terminals 121, 122, 123, and 124 have the same shape.