Hall effect device having voltage based biasing for temperature compensation

摘要

A Hall effect device includes a Hall element and a voltage regulator. The Hall element has first and second bias terminals, or nodes. The Hall effect device maintains, or regulates, a voltage at a point within the Hall element between the first and second bias terminals at about a constant voltage level, while generating a Hall effect voltage. In particular embodiments, the Hall effect voltage is, thus, prevented from substantially varying with the temperature of the Hall element.

主权项

1. A Hall effect device comprising:
a Hall element having first and second bias terminals; and a voltage regulator that regulates a voltage at a point within the Hall element between the first and second bias terminals to about a constant value, wherein: the voltage regulator comprises first and second resistors; the first and second resistors are connected in series with each other and connected to the first and second bias terminals so that they are in parallel with the Hall element; and the voltage regulator regulates the voltage at the point within the Hall element by regulating a voltage at a node between the first and second resistors to about the constant value, wherein: the voltage regulator further comprises a high gain amplifier; and the high gain amplifier connects at a first input to a reference voltage, at a second input to the node between the first and second resistors and at an output to the second bias terminal of the Hall element and wherein the voltage at the node between the first and second resistor substantially equals the reference voltage and substantially equals the voltage at the point within the Hall element, wherein: the Hall element has first and second Hall voltage terminals and generates a Hall effect voltage across the first and second Hall voltage terminals when in the presence of a magnetic field; and as a temperature of the Hall element changes, an internal resistance thereof changes, which causes voltages at the first and second bias terminals to change in opposite directions to remain substantially equidistant from the voltage at the point within the Hall element.