Patent ID: 7952348

Claim:
A method of assembling an eddy current probe for use in nondestructive testing of a sample, the eddy current probe including an array of substantially planar drive coil elements and a plurality of unpackaged solid-state magnetic field sensors, the drive coil elements each including at least one drive coil winding, said method comprising: positioning the array of substantially planar drive coil elements within a flexible material; providing at least one drive coil bonding pad, on the flexible material, for a first drive coil element of the plurality of drive coil elements; positioning at least one sensor bonding pad on a first unpackaged solid-state magnetic field sensor of the plurality of unpackaged solid-state magnetic field sensors; and coupling the at least one drive coil bonding pad to the at least one sensor bonding pad to couple the first unpackaged solid-state magnetic field sensor to the flexible material, the at least one drive coil bonding pad and the at least one sensor bonding pad configured to align the first unpackaged solid-state magnetic field sensor at a predetermined location with respect to an electromagnetic field created by the first drive coil element.