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Hall (magnetic) sensors

from Lake Shore Cryotronics

Hall effect sensors are measuring or detecting magnetic fields electronically. They are providing an output voltage proportional to the magnetic flux density. 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. We offer a range of Hall sensors for various applications. In all cases, these sensors go beyond the application of simple magnetic presence detection such as those used in encoders, contactless switches, and electronic compasses. Lake Shore sensors are useful for field measurement applications, where field value, direction, and polarity are of interest.

Features

Single or 3-axis configurations
Wide operating temperature range
Plug-and-play version available for teslameters and gaussmeters

Further information

A Hall sensor is a 4-lead device. The control current (IC) leads are normally attached to a current source such as the Lake Shore Model 121. The Model 121 provides several fixed current values compatible with various Hall sensors.

The Hall voltage leads may be connected directly to a readout instrument, such as a high impedance voltmeter, or can be attached to electronic circuitry for amplification or conditioning. Device signal levels will be in the range of microvolts to hundreds of millivolts.

The Hall sensor input is not isolated from its output. In fact, impedance levels on the order of the input resistance are all that generally exist between the two ports. To prevent erroneous current paths, which can cause large error voltages, the current supply must be isolated from the output display or the downstream electronics.

	2Dex	InAs—stable	InAs—sensitive	GaAs
What makes this work? Words to impress your boss	Thin-film technology using a 2‑dimensional electron gas (2DEG) structure	Indium arsenide bulk material, doped for high stability	Indium arsenide bulk material, doped for high sensitivity	Gallium arsenide thin film
Temperature range An advantage of non-silicon-based Hall sensors is the opportunity for use in more extreme temperatures	1 K* to 402 K (-272 °C* to 125 °C) * low temperature version under development	1.5 K to 375 K (-271.5 °C to 102 °C)	208 K to 373 K (-65 °C to 100 °C)	233 K to 402 K (-40 °C to 125 °C)
Interchangeability Ability to operate multiple sensors with identical drive and measurement setups	Good—narrow range of sensitivity values, excellent linearity, and small offset voltage	Poor—sensitivity range is large enough to require knowledge of the average sensitivity value	Poor—sensitivity range is large enough to require knowledge of the average sensitivity value	Poor—sensitivity range is large enough to require knowledge of the average sensitivity value
Ruggedness Ability to survive shock and vibration	Good	Poor	Poor	Good
Lake Shore instrument compatibility Gaussmeter/teslameter compatibility for these sensors, allowing for field values to automatically be displayed by the instrument	F71 or F41 teslameter with plug-and-play sensors—full sensor calibration and temperature compensation providing accuracy equivalent to a full teslameter probe	425 or 475 gaussmeter using HMCBL cable; field conversion accomplished with single sensitivity value only, meaning linearity and temperature compensation is not carried out by the gaussmeter	425 or 475 gaussmeter using HMCBL cable; field conversion accomplished with single sensitivity value only, meaning linearity and temperature compensation is not carried out by the gaussmeter	None
Planar Hall effect Physical property related to Hall element thickness that introduces measurement error when the field is in-plane with the sensor element	None, making these sensors ideal for measuring fields with unknown orientation	Significant—bulk material produces enough of a planar Hall effect that fields with known directions are required for accurate measurements	Significant—bulk material produces enough of a planar Hall effect that fields with known directions are required for accurate measurements	Some—thin film elements may exhibit small amounts of planar Hall effect error
Sensitivity at nominal current Impacts measurement accuracy and resolution—a higher number is better	50.5 to 52.5 mV/T	5.5 to 11 mV/T	55 to 125 mV/T	110 to 280 mV/T
Sensitivity temperature coefficient Impacts accuracy during large temperature shifts	200 ppm/°C	50 ppm/°C	800 ppm/°C	600 ppm/°C
Nominal drive current The recommended excitation level for these sensors	1 mA	100 mA	100 mA	1 mA
Typical input resistance Useful when selecting the drive circuit	800 Ω	2 Ω	2 Ω	750 Ω
Typical input resistance temperature coefficient An additional source of measurement error if using a voltage source (rather than current source) to power the sensor	0.7%/°C	0.15%/°C	0.18%/°C	0.2%/°C
Best offset voltage (field equivalent) An error component that has a bigger impact at small fields	±25 µV (0.5 mT)	±50 µV (4.5 mT)	±75 µV (0.6 mT)	±2.8 mV (10 mT)

Specifications

2Dex™ Hall Sensors

Multiple package types
Small active areas
Single or 3-axis configurations
Suitable for extreme environments (temperature, radiation, vacuum)
Plug-and-play version available for direct connection to Lake Shore F71/F41 teslameters

2Dex™ Plug-and-Play Hall Sensors