Bismuth Micro and Nano Hall Sensors on Photo-plastic Cantilevers for Scanning Hall Probe Microscopy

Conventional Hall devices are widely employed to measure magnetic fields produced by millimetre sized (or larger) current-caring conductors or permanent magnets with a standard active area of about (100 μm). Micro-Hall sensors have recently emerged as a powerful and sensitive tool for the investigation of local magnetic field properties of the micro and nanostructures. The conventional Hall effect devices are based on non-magnetic materials (typically semiconductors e.g: AlGaAs/GaAs and InSb or semimetals such as Bi). Bismuth is a semi-metal that presents a very long mean free path, a large spatial extension of the electron wave function, and a low electron density. This explains the amazing galvanomagnetic properties of bismuth nanostructures.