Micronas introduces Hall sensors for contactless speed/position detection

Micronas has introduced the HAL 2xy family of Hall sensors for accurate, contactless detection of positions and speed, including position detection of power windows, sliding roofs, hatchbacks, foot pedals and fan control.

Peter Zimmermann, market manager, automotive, said the devices have the potential to replace micro switches. “Hall-effect sensors are immune to mechanical abrasion. They have a longer lifetime because they are not prone to environmental contaminants such as vibration, shock, dirt, humidity and high temperatures,” he said. Integrated protection features allow the sensors to function with unstable voltage supplies, they are resistant to high-frequency electromagnetic fields, and they offer reverse polarity and overvoltage protection for all pins.

Integrated active "chopper-offset" compensation avoids offset errors in the measurement signal, according to Zimmermann. “Changes in temperature can cause mechanical stress on the chip, which in turn, will influence future measurement results. Manufacturing assembly steps can also cause such stress. The chopper-offset compensation process compensates for these effects, thus the Hall sensors are able to perform accurate measurements with long-term stability over a wide (-40 °C to 125 °C) temperature range. The HAL 2xy is available in TO-92UA and SOT-89B packages, both suitable for overmolding.