Magnetic-Field Sensitivity Enhancement by Magnetoelectric Sensor Arrays

We have investigated an array of magnetoelectric (ME) detection sensor units and an equivalent scheme by which to model their magnetic-field detection sensitivity. The signal response, noise level, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of an array of m units connected in parallel and serial modes have been analyzed. Our research shows that ME arrays in parallel increase the signal and noise currents by factors of m and radicm, respectively, while ME arrays in series do not increase the signal current but reduce the noise by radicm. Accordingly, we predict and experimentally confirm that the SNR increases by a factor of radicm, for both serial and parallel modes.