Delta-sigma all-digital magnetometer

This Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I project will explore a fundamentally different approach to digital magnetic sensors. The traditional approach combines a sensor having an analog output with an electronic analog-to-digital converter. In the proposed magnetic field sensor, the analog-to-digital conversion occurs in the physical mechanism of the sensor itself. With this approach only inexpensive digital electronic circuits are needed to complete the sensor system, resulting in a robust, and economically manufacturable design. Being based on standard integrated circuit processing techniques, the new digital magnetometer will be easily mass-produced. The new products will be smaller, cheaper and use less power than existing sensors in a range of applications including: digital compasses, geomaganetic surveying equipment, and vehicle sensors for traffic control and intrusion detection. The very small size of the sensor will also enable new applications using high-density sensor arrays for example in currency and document validation or portable biomedical assay devices.