An integrated microsystem for 3-D magnetic field measurements

In this paper we present a portable, battery operated 3D magnetic microsystem (magnetodosimeter), intended for monitoring the workers’ exposure to magnetic fields in particular working environments, such as hospitals or physics laboratories. The proposed microsystem is based on a multi-chip module containing three equal channels for the three components of the magnetic field measurement, a microprocessor and a memory. Each single-chip channel detects the magnetic field, converts it into the digital domain and delivers the result to the microprocessor by means of an on-chip serial interface. The single-chip channel, fabricated in a 0.8 μm CMOS technology, is sensitive to magnetic fields ranging from –200 mT to +200 mT, achieving 12 bits of resolution and 11 bits of linearity.