U.S. Philips Corporation

Willibrordus G Van Den Hoek

Johannes De Wilde

Thijs W Bril

A sensor suitable for measuring magnetic field gradients spanning very small regions has a magnetic field-sensitive element (37, 42) with a very accurately defined height and thickness (even into the nanometer range) which is perpendicular to the surface of a substrate (30, 41) so that the substrate surface may be used in aligning the element (37, 42) and is manufactured by, for example, depositing magnetic field-sensitive material (9) integrally on the surface of a substrate (5) and the walls and the bottom of a groove (8) provided therein and by removing the deposited material by means of an ion etching process with an ion beam incident at right angles to the substrate surface so that only the deposited material (10) on the walls remains.

Method of manufacturing a sensor having a magnetic field sensitive

A sensor suitable for measuring magnetic field gradients spanning very small regions has a magnetic field-sensitive element (37, 42) with a very accurately defined height and thickness (even into the nanometer range) which is perpendicular to the surface of a substrate (30, 41) so that the substrate surface may be used in aligning the element (37, 42).

Sensor having a magnetic field-sensitive element with accurately defined

A method of providing grooves in a body of a soft-magnetic, iron-containing material. The method includes reactive ion etching the body in a chlorine-containing or bromine-containing plasma after providing the body areas not to be etched with a mask of an inorganic material such as Al.sub.2 O.sub.3.

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Eindhoven, Netherlands

Willibrordus G Van Den Hoek