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:
May. 25, 2010
Filed:
Jun. 16, 2006
Shigeru Shoji, Tokyo, JP;
Shigeru Shoji, Tokyo, JP;
TDK Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The present invention provides a current sensor capable of detecting a current magnetic field generated by a current to be detected with high precision and stability while realizing a compact configuration. The current sensor has: first and second magnetoresistive elements each including a pinned layer having a magnetization direction pinned in a predetermined direction, a free layer whose magnetization direction changes according to applied magnetic fields, and an intermediate layer sandwiched between the pinned layer and the free layer; and first and second permanent magnets for applying bias magnetic fields to the first and second magnetoresistive elements. The bias magnetic field has a parallel component parallel to a magnetization direction under no magnetic field and an orthogonal component orthogonal to the parallel component. Consequently, uniaxial anisotropy of the free layer can be enhanced without using shape anisotropy. Therefore, the current magnetic field to be detected can be detected with high precision and stability irrespective of the shapes of the magnetoresistive elements, and the invention is favorable for miniaturization.