Hall-effect sensors expand sensing options

A Hamlin Electronics Europe product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 22, 2003

Hamlin has moved beyond its traditional portfolio of reed-switch sensors with the addition of a range of Hall-effect sensors from Micronas.

Hamlin has moved beyond its traditional portfolio of reed-switch sensors with the addition of a range of Hall-effect sensors from Micronas.

"Expanding into the Hall sensor market is part of Hamlin's strategy to develop further its position as a leading manufacturer of advanced products", said Phil James, Managing Director of Hamlin.

"Having Micronas' technology and technical support greatly expands Hamlin's custom sensor solutions capabilities and provides the company with a competitive edge in terms of what we can bring to the customer.

The new alliance will keep Hamlin in the forefront of new product developments which will enable the company to launch new sensor products more quickly and efficiently".

"We are proud that with Hamlin, we have been able to convince a strong partner to leverage Micronas' proven know-how in Hall effect sensor technology for a strategic extension of their product portfolio", explained Peter Zimmermann, Automotive Market Manager at Micronas.

"The agreement covers all product ranges from simple Hall switches to highly sophisticated programmable sensors with digital signal processing and EEPROM memory".

Both reed switches and Hall effect sensors are magnetic proximity sensors but they function in significantly different ways.

A reed sensor is a mechanical switch in which the precious metal contacts are hermetically sealed within a small glass tube.

The reed sensor has a digital output and no analog capability.

The reed switch can be magnetically biased to obtain a latching function.

Micronas pioneered the Hall sensor market.

It was the first company to offer fully programmable Hall sensors, where the Hall plate, the DSP block and the EEPROM were integrated into one chip manufactured in pure CMOS technology.

Together with a patented method of offset compensation invented by Micronas, these sensors are more accurate by an order of magnitude compared to their bipolar predecessors.

Due to the programmability they can be matched flexibly to the application and the given application environment.

This eliminates expensive mechanical adjustments in the system.

Therefore, system manufacturers benefit from reduced system costs as well as from a logistical advantage in that only one part needs to be stocked for a variety of applications.

The contactless measurement principle makes Hall sensors immune to mechanical wear and environmental contaminants such as dirt, vibration and great temperature variations, resulting in a much higher level of reliability.

Thus, Hall sensors can replace electromechanical potentiometers in many cases.

Hall sensors are used for a huge variety of simple position measurements (window closed/open) as well as for angle, rotational speed and current measurements.

They are the components of choice for applications in harsh environments such as cars.