Equivalent Magnetic Noise Limit of Low-Cost GMI Magnetometer

We present a noise analysis of a giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) sensor using a peak detector at the optimal magnetic field working bias point of a sensor wire, by considering internal noise sources (intrinsic GMI device associated noise sources and conditioning electronic noise sources). An expression is obtained for the theoretical expected noise for known electronic design parameters and physical characteristics of the GMI wire. The most significant contributions to noise in a GMI measurement, using two basic oscillators (either a simple discrete RC oscillator or quartz oscillator) along with a peak detector, are presented. We discuss the expected extrinsic equivalent magnetic noise limit.