Grid-Based Discrete Spinning Current Method for the Extraction of Two Stresses and the Hall Voltage from Planar Four-Contact Sensors

Abstract:
An implementation-friendly method to extract stress values and the Hall voltage from planar sensors with four peripheral contacts is described. It is based on the well-known continuous spinning current method where the current injected into the device is continuously rotated with constant amplitude by appropriate superposition of two orthogonal currents. In the grid-based discrete spinning current method, the orthogonal currents each take the levels -I0 , 0, and +I0 . The resulting eight effective current vectors lie on a grid. Their non-constant amplitudes simplify the Fourier analysis supplying conclusions about two stress components from the pseudo-Hall signals orthogonal to the current directions and the Hall voltage.