Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor-compatible micromachined two-dimensional vertical Hall magnetic-field sensor: A modified design

This article presents the design and characterization of a complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor-compatible magnetic-field sensor. The present design is a variation of the original concept for a vertical Hall magnetic-field sensor. Our sensor measures two magnetic-field components parallel to the device surface. The carriers flow in a plane perpendicular to the device surface. The induced Hall potential is due to the Lorentz force and measures the intensity of the magnetic field. In order to reduce the cross-sensitivity and increase the sensitivity of the sensor, the carrier regions in the sensor are confined by reverse-biased p+ walls. To avoid any premature pinch-off, the p+ regions are fabricated skewed at an angle to each other, in such a way that, as the potential difference varies across the carrier regions, the boundaries between the depletion regions remain parallel along the carrier’s path from the central to the outer current contacts. In this way, the potential impact of carrier confinement i...