Title :
Operation of Lorentz-force MEMS magnetometers with on-off current switching
Author :
Langfelder, Giacomo ; Buffa, C. ; Minotti, Paolo ; Longoni, A. ; Tocchio, Alessandro ; Zerbini, Sarah
Author_Institution :
Dipt. di Elettron., Inf. e Bioingegneria, Politec. di Milano, Milan, Italy
Abstract :
Combined off-resonance operation and on-off switching of the driving current is applied to a micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) magnetometer. This novel driving technique allows improving the signal to noise ratio (SNR), and thus the minimum measurable magnetic field, with no added cost in terms of driving current. The technique is applied to a magnetometer built in a surface micromachining process. Measurements show a 5.4 times better resolution than for operation at resonance in continuous mode.
Keywords :
force sensors; magnetic field measurement; magnetic sensors; magnetometers; micromachining; microsensors; Lorentz-force MEMS magnetometer; SNR; driving current; microelectromechanical system magnetometer; off-resonance operation; on-off current switching; signal to noise ratio; surface micromachining process; Bandwidth; Current measurement; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetometers; Micromechanical devices; Noise; Sensors; MEMS sensors; digital compass; inertial measurement units; magnetometers;
Conference_Titel :
Solid State Device Research Conference (ESSDERC), 2014 44th European
Conference_Location :
Venice
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-4378-4
DOI :
10.1109/ESSDERC.2014.6948758
