Modeling and Design of Resonant Magnetic Field Sensors in the Scheme of Differential Magnetostrictive Actuation With Compact Bias Magnetic Circuit

Abstract

A type of differential resonant magnetic field sensor is developed by employing the composite elements of FeGa plates, piezoelectric quartz crystal double-ended tuning forks (DETFs) and bias permanent magnets. The model and analysis show that the differential design brings the benefits of doubled sensitivity, increased linearity and low temperature drift. Importantly, a small and compact magnetic circuit containing a pair of permanent magnets and dual FeGa plates ensures the generation of differential actuation, which not only reduces the leakage flux but also improve the field-sensitivity and resolution. The magnetic circuit model based on the “lumped parameters” method is established. As an important aid, the distribution of magnetic flux density along the longitudinal direction of the FeGa alloy is simulated by finite element analysis software. In order to avoid the prediction error caused by parameter errors, simulations in different conditions are carried out for comparative analysis. This method ensures the magnetic circuit provides qualified magnetic field. The experimental results show that the differential resonant magnetic field sensor with frequency readout has the characteristics of high sensitivity of 4.4 Hz/Oe, high resolution of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${&lt; }3.04\times 10^{-4}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Oe, low temperature drift and excellent linear (non-linearity error of 1.3%FS) and low hysteresis (1.5%FS) over its measurement full scale (FS) of ±100Oe.