Compensation of the piezo-Hall effect in integrated Hall sensors on (100)-Si

Abstract

Silicon Hall sensors are known to suffer from a long-term drift in the magnetic sensitivity between 1% and 4%, depending on the degree of moisture in the mold compound of the package. This drift is mainly caused by changes of mechanical stress exerted by the plastic package onto the die. We present a system, which continuously measures the relevant stress components, estimates the sensitivity drift, and corrects for it digitally. An individual precalibration versus temperature is necessary to achieve the required level of accuracy. Results from laboratory characterization with pressure cells and lifetime drift during qualification runs show that this system can keep the drift of magnetic sensitivity well below 1%. © 2007 IEEE.