Patent ID: 9312472
Filing Date: 2016-04-12
CPC Classification: G01R,H01L

Claim Text:
1. A sensor, comprising: a vertical Hall device formed in a substrate, configured to sense a magnetic field that is parallel to a horizontal surface of the substrate, the vertical Hall device comprising: first, second, third and fourth terminals; contacts to generate a Hall effect signal indicative of the magnetic field; at least one pair of Hall effect regions, the at least one pair of Hall effect regions comprising a first Hall effect region and a second Hall effect region formed in the horizontal substrate, wherein the first Hall effect region is separate from and distinct from the second Hall effect region, and wherein the first Hall effect region and the second Hall effect region are electrically isolated from each other by means of at least one of a reverse biased on-junction, and a trench coated with a dielectric layer; a first group of the contacts being arranged in or at a surface of the first Hall effect region, the first group comprising a first and second outmost contacts; and a second group of contacts arranged in or at a surface of the second Hall effect region, the second group comprising third and fourth outmost contacts; wherein each of the first, second, third and fourth terminals is connected to exactly only one of the outmost contacts, and wherein each of the first, second, third and fourth terminals is connected to a different one of the outmost contacts.