Hall sensor with automatic compensation

US5260614A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Deutsche ITT Industries, GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Ulrich Theus · Gundelfingen, DE
• Mario Motz · Wernberg, AT
• Juergen Niendorf · Frankfurt (Oder), DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 22, 1992
• Grant date: Nov 9, 1993
• Expiry date: Jul 22, 2012

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H10N59/00
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A circuit and method automatically compensate a monolithic integrated Hall sensor having a Hall element therein, wherein a device for generating operating currents is technologically and thermally tightly coupled with the Hall element. The production-induced and temperature-induced variations in the sensitivity of the Hall element are compensated for by a defined control of the supply current and the offset current. For the control, the thermal and technological parameters of the Hall element semiconductor region or equivalent regions in corresponding circuits are used. For this purpose, at least two current sources are provided which generate at least two auxiliary currents with different temperature dependences. By means of adding/subtracting devices, resultant currents with other temperature dependences are formed from the auxiliary currents by summation/subtraction and different weighting.