Self-biased SAW Magnetic Field Sensors Based on Angle Dependent Magneto-acoustic Coupling

Abstract

Surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) based devices have emerged as a promising technology in magnetic field sensing by integrating a magnetostrictive layer with the giant {\Delta}E/{\Delta}G effect. However, almost all SAW magnetic field sensors require a bias field to obtain high sensitivity. In addition, the true nature of magneto-acoustic coupling still presents a major challenge in understanding and designing of this kind of devices. In current work, a dynamic magnetoelastic model for the {\Delta}E/{\Delta}G effect is established in consideration of the important role of the dipole-dipole interaction. The model is also implemented into a FEM software to calculate the resonance frequency responses of multiple fabricated sensors with different {\psi} angles between of the acoustic wave vector and the induced uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. The measured results are in excellent agreement with the simulated ones. A strong resonance frequency sensitivity (RFS) of 630.4 kHz/Oe was achieved at zero bias field for the device with optimized {\psi} angle. Furthermore, the RFS measurements along different directions verify its vector-sensing capability.