Integrated microsystem for 3D magnetic field measurements

We present a portable battery-operated 3D magnetic microsystem (magnetodosimeter), intended for monitoring worker exposure to magnetic fields, in particular, working environments such as hospitals or physics laboratories. The proposed microsystem is based on a multichip module containing three equal channels for the three components of the magnetic field measurement, a microprocessor and a memory. Each single-chip channel detects the magnetic field, converts it into the digital domain and delivers the result to the microprocessor by means of an on-chip serial interface. The single-chip channel, fabricated in a 0.8 μm CMOS technology, is sensitive to magnetic fields ranging from -200 mT to +200 mT, achieving 12 bits of resolution and 11 bits of linearity.