Micronas presenting 3D Hall sensor

Innovative sensor with vertical Hall elements designed for automotive and industrial applications, as well as for use in home appliances

Micronas (SIX Swiss Exchange: MASN), a leading supplier of innovative application-specific IC and sensor system solutions for automotive electronics, launched the new HAL 36xy family with their HAL 3625 Hall-effect sensor based on Micronas’ 3D-Hall technology and equipped with vertical Hall elements. This technology allows rotation angles from 0° to 360° to be detected directly with minimum measuring efforts.

Unlike today’s usual Hall sensors, which use one Hall element to measure at one level only (Z-axis), the new technology allows the detection of an additional X and Y axis. Combining different axes and using the appropriate signal processing, a so-called 3D Hall sensor has been realized. The great advantage of these vertical Hall-effect sensors is that they can be manufactured in a standard CMOS process without additional post-processing. This process delivers products with ultimate quality and reliability, especially for the demanding automotive market.

The HAL 36xy product family will include several versions which will also differ in a number of essential characteristics and properties. The first member of this family offered by Micronas will be the HAL 3625 which delivers a ratiometric output format.

The 3D Hall sensor HAL 3625 features integrated signal processing and is suitable for applications calling for ultimate reliability or if operation at high ambient temperatures is intended. Customers already familiar with the standard Hall sensors (1D) can continue to use this valuable know-how.

"The HAL 3625 is suitable for use in automobiles for any type of valves, TPS, EGR, turbo chargers, steering angles and so on, but also for home appliances, for instance for selector switches and for out-of-balance detection in white goods. Used in industrial automation engineering, the sensor can be combined with every kind of actuator. With the HAL 3625, Micronas targets customers such as OEMs, integrators and engineering offices", says Peter Zimmermann, Director Marketing at Micronas.