Some factors affecting the performance of a thin film inductance variation magnetometer

The behaviour of a single domain thin ferromagnetic film used as a sensor element in an inductance variation magnetometer can be predicted. In particular the performance when there is a field component orthogonal to the vector direction of the magnetometer may be evaluated. The effect of uniaxial skew of the film in the bias and sensing fields is also considered. The electronic and magnetic noise of the system are discussed, as they determine the ultimate sensitivity of the device.