Sub-mA current measurement by means of GMR sensors and state of the art lock-in amplifiers

Author

Garcia-Romeo, D. ; Medrano, N. ; Calvo, B. ; Martinez, P.A. ; Cubells-Beltran, M.D. ; Reig, C. ; Cardoso, S. ; Freitas, P.P.

Author_Institution

Grupo de Diseno Electronico-I3A, Univ. de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

fYear

2015

fDate

17-19 March 2015

Firstpage

3377

Lastpage

3381

Abstract

Electric current measurement at the range of μA in integrated circuit has been traditionally carried out by micro-electronically engineered systems, such as current mirrors or charging capacitors. However, off-line, i.e., non-intrusive methods provide advantages related to size and power consumption. In this sense, giant magnetoresistance (GMR) magnetic sensors are optimal due to their sensitivity and CMOS compatibility. In this work, we make use of specifically designed CMOS GMR-based current sensors in combination with a custom electronic interface based on a low-voltage low-power lock-in amplifier, demonstrating the capability of this combination for current measurement in the range of μA.

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; amplifiers; electric current measurement; electric sensing devices; giant magnetoresistance; integrated circuit design; low-power electronics; magnetic sensors; magnetoresistive devices; CMOS compatibility; GMR magnetic sensor; charging capacitor; current mirror; electric current measurement; electronic interface; giant magnetoresistance magnetic sensor; integrated circuit; low-voltage low-power lock-in amplifier; microelectronically engineered system; power consumption; Amplifiers; Bridge circuits; Current measurement; Integrated circuits; Magnetic sensors; Oscillators; GMR; Lock-in amplifier; Sub-mA; current measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Industrial Technology (ICIT), 2015 IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Seville

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICIT.2015.7125600

Filename

7125600