The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 29, 1995
Filed:
Nov. 04, 1994
Robert A Lux, Toms River, NJ (US);
James F Harvey, Research Triangle Park, NC (US);
Charles D Mulford, Jr, Livingston, NJ (US);
Louis C Poli, Hazlet, NJ (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A pyramid shaped etch is made in an n or p type silicon substrate, or any symmetric etch with slanted edges, with p or n type implants in the slanted edges of the etch to form a PN junction. On this structure, an emitter and two collectors are formed by further implanting n+ regions in the PN junction region. To complete the device, ohmic contacts are formed to establish a base region. In operation, an appropriate bias is applied to the emitter through to the base and collectors. By so biasing the device, the device operates as a standard bipolar transistor. The currents of both the minority and majority carriers in the base region will respond to the component of the magnetic field perpendicular to the face of the slanted etch. As a result, there will be a difference in the currents in the collectors. These currents can then be simply calibrated to measure the magnetic field component. By forming similar sensors on 3 or 4 of the faces of the etched structure all three components of the magnetic field can be computed.