Hall (magnetic) sensors

A Hall sensor is a solid-state device that provides an output voltage proportional to magnetic flux density. As implied by its name, this device relies on the Hall effect. The Hall effect is the development of a voltage across a sheet of conductor when current is flowing and the conductor is placed in a magnetic field.

Transverse devices are generally thin and rectangular in shape. They are applied successfully in magnetic circuit gaps, surface measurements, and general open field measurements.

A transverse Hall sensor

Axial sensors are mostly cylindrical in shape. Their applications include ring magnet center bore measurements, solenoids, surface field detection, and general field sensing. See the individual Hall sensor illustrations for physical dimensions.

An axial Hall sensor

Active Area

The Hall sensor assembly contains the sheet of semiconductor material to which the four contacts are made. This entity is normally called a “Hall plate.” The Hall plate is, in its simplest form, a rectangular shape of fixed length, width, and thickness. Due to the shorting effect of the current supply contacts, most of the sensitivity to magnetic fields is contained in an area approximated by a circle, centered in the Hall plate, whose diameter is equal to the plate width. Thus, when the active area is given, the circle as described above is the common estimation.

2Dex plug-and-play Hall sensor product overview...

InAs and GaAs Hall sensor product overview...

Copyright © Lake Shore Cryotronics, Inc.