Patent ID: 8988072
Filing Date: 2015-03-24
Classification: G01R,H01L

Abstract:
1. A vertical Hall sensor, comprising: a Hall effect region; a plurality of contacts formed in or on a surface of the Hall effect region, the contacts being arranged in a sequence along a path extending between a first end and a second end of the Hall effect region; wherein the plurality of contacts comprise at least four spinning current contacts and at least two supply-only contacts; wherein the spinning current contacts are configured to alternatingly function as supply contacts and sense contacts according to a spinning current operation; wherein the at least four spinning current contacts are arranged along a central portion of the path; and wherein the at least two supply-only contacts are arranged on opposing sides of the central portion in a distributed manner and are configured to supply electrical energy to the Hall effect region; wherein two of the at least four spinning current contacts and one of the at least two supply-only contacts are configured to supply electrical energy to the Hall effect region and two other spinning current contacts are configured to function as sense contacts during a first operating phase of the spinning current operation, and wherein the two spinning current contacts functioning as sense contacts during the first operating phase and the other of the at least two supply-only contacts are configured to supply electrical energy to the Hall effect region during a second operation phase of the spinning current operation, and wherein the two spinning current contacts having functioned as supply contacts during the first operating phase are configured to function as sense contacts during a second operating phase of the spinning current operation.