Bi-Directional Giant Magneto Impedance Sensor

Abstract

A thin film giant magneto impedance (GMI) based on magnetic field sensor has been developed using electrodeposited Ni-Fe permalloy. Chemical composition, surface morphology, and magnetic properties of Ni-Fe permalloy were char-acterized as a function of plateup parameters, and process conditions were established to deposit a Ni-Fe thin film with a high permeability (~1000) and a low coercivity (0.6 Oersted). Conventional GMI sensors are uni-directional and are several millimeters long. In this work, a spiral-shaped sensor using electroplated Ni-Fe permalloy to detect bi-directional magnetic field is reported. Excellent bi-directional magnetic field sensing has been demonstrated using the 1 mm2 compact double-spiral structure.