Analysis and modeling of four-folded vertical Hall devices in current domain

This paper presents a four-folded current-mode vertical Hall device. The current spinning technique is applied to a vertical Hall sensor driven in current mode to eliminate the offset and to increase the sensitivity. Different geometries have been studied and simulated by using a simulator based on finite element method. A four-folded three contacts vertical Hall device model displayed the lowest residual offset and the best sensitivity. Simulations results, obtained in two different environments, are compared and discussed. COMSOL results are validated with respect to the electrical behavior of an 8-resistor Verilog-A model implemented in Cadence environment. Simulations show that the achieved sensitivity can be better than 160 mT^-1, a remarkable performance for vertical Hall sensors.