Temperature stable Hall effect sensors

Abstract

Magnetic field sensors are needed for high-accuracy position, angle, force, strain, torque, and current flow measurements. Molecular beam epitaxy was used to grow tellurium-doped indium-gallium antimonide thin films. Hall effect sensors made from these films have been studied for their magnetic sensitivity and thermal stability. For a range of alloy composition near In/sub 0.8/Ga/sub 0.2/Sb and n-type doping levels near 2/spl times/10/sup 17/ cm/sup -3/, high magnetic sensitivity from -40/spl deg/C to +200/spl deg/C was found with a resolution of better than /spl plusmn/0.5% over the entire temperature range.