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Phys. Status Solidi A, 1–6 (2014) / DOI 10.1002/pssa.

201300717

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Part of Topical Section on
Nanoscaled Magnetism and Applications www.pss-a.com
applications and materials science

Highly sensitive magnetometer based


on the off-diagonal GMI effect in Co-rich
glass-coated microwire
Sergey Gudoshnikov*,1,2, Nikolai Usov1,2, Alexey Nozdrin3, Mihail Ipatov4, Arcady Zhukov4,5,
and Valentina Zhukova2,4
1
Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation (IZMIRAN), Russian Academy of Sciences,
Kaluzhskoe sh. 4, 142190 Troitsk, Moscow, Russia
2
Magnetic and Cryoelectronic Systems Ltd., IZMIRAN, Kaluzhskoe sh. 4, 142190 Troitsk, Moscow, Russia
3
Moscow State Institute of Radio Engineering, Electronics and Automation (MIREA), Prospekt Vernadskogo 78, 119454 Moscow, Russia
4
Dpto. de Fisica de Materiales, Fac. Químicas, Universidad del Pais Vasco, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain
5
IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011 Bilbao, Spain

Received 30 October 2013, revised 29 December 2013, accepted 23 January 2014


Published online 20 February 2014

Keywords Co-rich glass-coated microwires, giant magnetic impedance (GMI) effect, magnetometer

* Corresponding author: e-mail gudosh@izmiran.ru, Phone: þ7 495-851-97-46, Fax: þ7 495-851-97-68

The design and performance of a magnetometer based on the off-


diagonal GMI effect in Co-rich glass-coated microwire are
presented. The sensing element of the magnetometer is a 10-mm
long piece of Co–Fe–Ni–B–Si–Mo microwire with a small
pick-up coil of 85 turns wounded around the microwire. The
electronics with a feedback circuit is used to register an
electromotive force proportional to the external magnetic field
applied along the wire axis. In the absence of the feedback current
the magnetometer is capable of measuring a narrow range of
magnetic fields, 3.5 mT, in the frequency range of 0–1 kHz, the
level of the equivalent magnetic noise being about 10 pT Hz1/2 Photo of the giant magnetoimpedance magnetometer based on
at a frequency of 300 Hz. The use of the feedback circuit increases the off-diagonal GMI effect in Co-rich glass-coated microwire.
the range of the measured magnetic fields up to 250 mT.

ß 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

1 Introduction The amorphous glass-coated ferro- magnetic field of the order of 100 A m1. It is worth
magnetic microwires with thin metallic nucleus diameters mentioning that the similarly to magnetic permeability GMI
d ¼ 5–30 mm are promising for various technological is a tensor [5, 8]. Consequently microwires with a low
applications [1, 2]. In particular, the microwires with nearly negative magnetostriction having nearly circular magnetic
zero magnetostriction show a giant magnetoimpedance an anisotropy present off-diagonal GMI effect [5, 9]. The
(GMI) effect [3–7] that can be used to develop sensitive off-diagonal GMI effect is the appearance of the electro-
sensors for detection of a weak external magnetic field. motive force (EMF) in a pick-up coil wound around a
The diagonal GMI effect in a ferromagnetic microwire microwire when an alternating current frequency f flows
consists of a large change of the longitudinal component of through it. The off-diagonal GMI effect is especially suitable
the microwire impedance, Zzz(f,H), at a frequency f under for the creation of a highly sensitive magnetometer, since the
the influence of an external uniform magnetic field H. It EMF induced in the pick-up coil is directly proportional
was shown experimentally [4], that the GMI ratio (Zzz(f,H)– to the longitudinal component of applied magnetic
Zzz(f,0))/Zzz(f,0) can reach more than 600% in a weak field. Several laboratory prototypes of sensitive GMI

ß 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim


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2 S. Gudoshnikov et al.: Highly sensitive magnetometer based on the off-diagonal GMI effect

magnetometers based on ferromagnetic microwires have


Table 1 Microwire parameters.
been presented recently [10–12]. Furthermore, Aichi Micro
Intelligent Corporation has created a commercial version of a parameter value
GMI magnetometer with a sensitivity of 10 nT [13].
MW composition Co67Fe3.85Ni1.45B11.5Si14.5Mo1.7
It is well known that the GMI effect of thin amorphous
metal core radius, R 10.7 mm
Co-rich glass-coated microwires with small negative total radius, Rt 13.1 mm
magnetostriction is very sensitive to external magnetic magnetization, M 0.5  106 A m1
fields [14, 15] because the internal residual quenching stress, anisotropy field, Ha 95 A m1
in the presence of negative magnetostriction, creates nearly magnetostriction, l 3  107
circular magnetic anisotropy. However, it was recently
understood [9, 16] that strictly circular magnetization is
only an idealized model. In reality, most of the Co-rich striction constant was estimated by means of the induction
glass-coated microwires show a helical type of magnetic measurements carried out at different loads and small angle
anisotropy. The presence of even a weak helical anisotropy rotation [18, 19]. The parameters of the microwire selected
significantly affects [9, 16] the electrodynamics properties of for creation of the sensing element are given in Table 1.
a Co-rich glass-coated microwire. The aim of the present A special GMI holder has been developed to measure the
work is to study the characteristics of a highly sensitive diagonal and off-diagonal GMI components of a microwire.
magnetometer developed using the off-diagonal GMI effect It has contact pads to install a piece of microwire of 6–10 mm
in amorphous Co-rich glass-coated microwire with a weak length and a receiving pick-up coil. The hand-made pick-up
helical anisotropy. It is shown that the elimination of the coil of 0.5 mm diameter contains 85 turns of 50 mm copper
influence of the helical anisotropy by means of a magnetic wire. A sharp scalpel was used to remove the glass shell
field of a small dc bias current enables one to create a GMI at the ends of the microwire to make electrical contacts
sensor with a good linear characteristic in the range of weak by soldering. Figure 2 shows a scheme of the electronics
magnetic fields. set-up used to measure the off-diagonal GMI component.
The diagonal GMI component was measured by means of the
2 Magnetometer design usual four-point method. The installation used to measure the
2.1 GMI sensor and its characteristics The Co-rich GMI components of amorphous microwire consists of a
glass-coated microwires of different compositions and power source creating the external uniform magnetic field,
diameters were obtained by means of the Taylor–Ulitovski and the sources of the alternating current of the frequency
method [14, 17]. Quasistatic hysteresis loops of the f ¼ 1–10 MHz and the dc bias current. Two separate
microwires were measured using both a vibrating sample measurement channels have been used to register the
magnetometer and an induction method. We selected the diagonal and off-diagonal GMI components, respectively.
microwires with nearly circular anisotropy, showing small The GMI holder was connected to the measuring system
hysteresis and low anisotropy field, as a consequence of a with a shielded twisted pair of 0.5 m length and was placed
small negative magnetostriction constant. Figure 1 shows the within a solenoid within a magnetic shield made of
magnetization curve of a piece of the microwire of 5 mm permalloy. The linearly varying axial magnetic field of
length measured with a vibrating magnetometer. It can be amplitude 1200 A m1 was applied during the measure-
seen that the wire magnetization curve has no hysteresis, the ments. A microwire can be additionally supplied by a bias
anisotropy field being about 95 A m1. The wire magneto- current in the range of 0–5 mA. High-frequency signals of
diagonal and off-diagonal GMI components were amplified
and then detected by corresponding lock-in detectors. The

Figure 1 The hysteresis characteristic of the 5-mm segment of


Co-rich glass-coated microwire measured by the vibration sample Figure 2 Block diagram of the electronics setup used to measure
magnetometer. the microwire GMI-characteristics.

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Original
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Phys. Status Solidi A (2014) 3

Table 2 Parameters of the GMI sensor.


parameter value

wire length, L 10 mm
resistance, Rdc 36 V cm1
coil radius, Rc 0.25 mm
coil turns number, Nc 85
ac frequency, fac 4 MHz
dc bias current, Idc 0.7 mA
Zzz/Rdc 1.75 (75%)
sensitivity at Iz1 ¼ 0.22 mA, V1/B 30 V T1
sensitivity at Iz2 ¼ 2 mA, V2/B 300 V T1

Note that the GMI-sensor sensitivities, V T1, are given in


Table 2 for two amplitudes of the high-frequency excitation
Figure 3 The reduced diagonal GMI component of the Co-rich current. The value Iz1 ¼ 0.22 mA was used to measure the
microwire in the absence of the dc bias current, Idc ¼ 0 (gray), and GMI-sensor characteristics presented in Figs. 3 and 4.
for Idc ¼ 0.7 mA (black) as a function of applied magnetic field. However, the current amplitude was increased up to Iz2 ¼ 2 mA
when the sensor was operated in the magnetometer regime.

measured values of the GMI components were normalized to 2.2 Estimation of the off-diagonal GMI sensiti-
the dc microwire resistance per unit length, Rdc ¼ r/pR2, vity When an ac current flows along the microwire, the EMF
where r is the specific wire resistance and R is the radius of induced in the receiving pick-up coil, E ¼ 2pRcNcew(Rc), is
the metallic core of the microwire. proportional to the number of the coil turns Nc, and the
Figure 3 shows the reduced diagonal GMI component amplitude of the circumferential component of the high-
of the microwire, Zzz/Rdc, measured at a frequency frequency electric field in the coil, ew(Rc), where Rc is the
f ¼ 4 MHz with the amplitude of the high-frequency current coil radius. It can be shown [16], that the circumferential
Iz ¼ 0.22 mA without DC bias current (gray curve) and component of the electric field outside the microwire
for Idc ¼ 0.7 mA (black curve). Figure 4 shows the off- decreases approximately inversely proportional to the radial
diagonal GMI component of the wire measured at the same coordinate, so that ew(Rc) ¼ Rew(R)/Rc, where R is the radius
Idc values. In contrast to the complicated GMI signals of the metallic core of the microwire. On the other hand, in
obtained at Idc ¼ 0, a good linear characteristic is obtained the linear regime with respect to the ac current amplitude
for Idc ¼ 0.7 mA. Besides, in the latter case the measurements Iz the circumferential electric field component is proportional
are identical both for increasing and descending branches of to the off-diagonal component of the microwire impedance,
the applied magnetic field. This shows that the presence of a ew(R) ¼ IzZwz(f,H). Therefore, the EMF induced in the
small dc bias current is very important [9, 16] to stabilize receiving pick-up coil is given by E ¼ 2pRNcIzZwz(f,H).
the behavior of the off-diagonal GMI component of the Thus, one can see, that the sensitivity of the GMI sensor
amorphous Co-rich microwire. The measured characteristics to the applied magnetic field, apart from the obvious
of the GMI sensor are given in Table 2. parameters Nc and Iz, is determined also by the magnetic-
field dependence of the off-diagonal impedance component
Zwz(f,H). As follows from the theory [8, 16], in a range
of applied magnetic fields |H| < Ha, where Ha is the wire
anisotropy field, the off-diagonal impedance component
Zwz(f,H) is nearly proportional to the applied magnetic
field, Zwz(f,H)  CH. However, the coefficient C ¼ dZwz/dH
depends on the frequency of the ac current f, as well as on
many other parameters, such as the distribution of the residual
quenching stress over the wire cross section, the magneto-
striction constant l, the effective magnetic damping k, the
amplitude of the weak dc bias current Idc, etc. Therefore,
the analysis of the dependence of Zwz(f,H) on the applied
magnetic field H can be made only by means of numerical
simulation [16], based on the micromagnetic calculation of
the distribution of the magnetization along the wire radius as
Figure 4 The off-diagonal GMI component of the Co-rich a function of applied magnetic field, and the corresponding
microwire in the absence of the dc bias current, Idc ¼ 0 (gray), solution of the Maxwell’s equations for the high-frequency
and for Idc ¼ 0.7 mA (black) as a function of applied magnetic field. components of the propagating electromagnetic field.

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4 S. Gudoshnikov et al.: Highly sensitive magnetometer based on the off-diagonal GMI effect

Figure 6 Block diagram of the electronics developed for an off-


diagonal GMI magnetometer.

frequency excitation current is given by Iz2 ¼ 2 mA, the dc


bias current being Idc ¼ 0.7 mA. The detection unit consists
of the low-noise preamplifier, phase shifter and lock-in
Figure 5 Calculated magnetic-field dependence of the off-diagonal detector. These elements demodulate the ac signal obtained
GMI component at various material parameters of amorphous from the pick-up coil wound around the Co-rich microwire.
Co-rich microwire. The next element is an integrator with current power output,
which is used for the generation of the feedback current and
Figure 5 shows the results of the calculation of the the output signal.
Zwz(f,H) component of Co-rich microwire used as the sensing When the feedback current is turned on, the signal
element in the present paper. For this wire the off-diagonal proportional to the applied magnetic field goes with the
component of the residual quenching stress, which opposite sign to the receiving pick-up coil and partly
determines the weak helical anisotropy of the wire, was compensates the external magnetic field. The resistor R2
previously [16] estimated to be swz ¼ 0.02. Simultaneously, limits the feedback current magnitude and sets the range of
it was found that the magnetic field of dc bias current with an the measured external magnetic field. A method of driving a
amplitude Idc  0.7 mA stabilizes the behavior of the off- microwire and to register its signals was patented in the
diagonal GMI component of the wire in the whole range of Russian Federation [22].
external magnetic fields. However, the magnetostriction Figure 7 shows a photograph of the electronics board
constant l for this wire is not precisely known, while the developed. The PCB size is 20 mm  80 mm. The board is
amplitude of residual quenching stress and the effective powered by the voltage of þ5.6 V. The increase in the
magnetic damping may depend on the annealing conditions. number of magnetometer channels is obtained by increasing
As Fig. 5 shows, the maximum on the dependency of the number of cards arranged one above the other, as shown
Zwz(f,H) on H corresponds approximately to the wire in Fig. 7. In the left panel of Fig. 7 a general view of the GMI
anisotropy field Ha. At fixed amplitude of the residual sensors manufactured for three-channel GMI magnetometer
quenching stress, the increase of the magnetostriction is shown.
constant l leads to an increase in the wire anisotropy field,
and thus reduces the derivative dZwz/dH in the linear region 3 Performance Figure 8 shows the output signals of
of the transfer characteristics of the GMI sensor. On the other the GMI magnetometer for different values of the feedback
hand, the decrease of the effective magnetic damping leads resistor R2. Without a feedback current the range of the
to a noticeable increase in the GMI sensor sensitivity. measured magnetic fields was small 3.5 mT (curve 1 in
Comparison of experimental and calculated data for Zwz(f,H) Fig. 8). Using the feedback signal the measured range of the
component gives generally a reasonable agreement between magnetic fields can be expanded depending on the value of
the results. This helps one to model the parameters of a GMI resistor R2 up to 70 mT for R2 ¼ 720 V (curve 2), and up
sensor that uses a piece of a Co-rich glass-coated microwire to 250 mT for R2 ¼ 200 V (curve 3), respectively.
as a sensing element.

2.3 Electronics To operate in the magnetometer


regime a simple electronic circuit was developed to register
the output signal of the off-diagonal GMI sensor. Note that
similar electronics with a feedback circuit has been used [11,
12, 20, 21] in sensitive magnetometers based on microwires,
as well as on thin-film sandwiches and amorphous ribbons.
The functional scheme of the present off-diagonal GMI
magnetometer is shown in Fig. 6. The electronics consists of Figure 7 A photo of the off-diagonal GMI sensors (left panel) and
a sine wave fac ¼ 4 MHz excitation generator, a dc current printed-circuit board electronics. The PCB electronics size is
source and a detection unit. The amplitude of the high- 20 mm  80 mm.

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Original
Paper

Phys. Status Solidi A (2014) 5

Figure 10 The response of the GMI magnetometer to abrupt


Figure 8 The GMI magnetometer responses obtained using magnetic field jumps of 10 and þ20 nT and its time drift during
different feedback resistors R2. In the absence of feedback (curve 1) 1 h. The time drift is approximately 5 nT h1.
the maximal applied magnetic field was 3.5 mT. The original
nearly linear range of the GMI sensor was enlarged up to 250 mT
(curve 3) using the feedback loop connection with R2 ¼ 200 V.
magnetometer during 1 h. The drift was estimated to be of
approximately 5 nT h1. The temperature characteristics of
The noise characteristics of the GMI magnetometer were the magnetometer are under investigation. The impact of a
measured using the spectrum analyzer Ono Sokki CF-5210. large magnetic field on the magnetometer could lead to
During the measurement the GMI sensor was placed inside a slight shift of the zero point of the order of 20–40 nT.
the permalloy magnetic shield. Figure 9 shows the noise This effect was observed in the measurement without the
spectrum of the magnetometer in the frequency range up to feedback current. The parameters of the off-diagonal GMI
1000 Hz. The rms noise density at a frequency 300 Hz was magnetometer are given in Table 3.
10 pT Hz1/2. However, at a frequency 3 Hz the noise
increases about an order, up to 80 pT Hz1/2. Note that the 4 Conclusions In this paper a highly sensitive GMI
equivalent noise density of the electronics does not exceed sensor based on the off-diagonal GMI effect in Co-rich glass-
3 pT Hz1/2 in the same frequency range. coated amorphous microwire with weak helical anisotropy is
We also measured the temporal drift of the GMI designed and manufactured. It is shown that the optimal
magnetometer placed within a magnetic screen. Figure 10 choice of the amplitude of the high-frequency current, as
shows the response of the magnetometer to the abrupt jumps well as the amplitude of the dc bias current enables one
of the magnetic field with the amplitudes of 10 and to obtain a sensor with good linearity of the transfer
20 nT, as well as the corresponding temporal drift of the characteristic and high steepness of the conversion, which
may exceed 300 V T1.
Using this GMI sensor a prototype of the GMI
magnetometer is developed. The magnetometer has a small
size, a sensitivity 10 pT Hz1/2 at frequencies above 300 Hz.
The dynamic range of the magnetometer exceeds 120 dB.
Both the one- and three-channel versions of the GMI

Table 3 Parameters of the GMI magnetometer.


parameter value

field direction uniaxial


magnetic field sensitivity
at 300 Hz 10 pT Hz1/2
at 3 Hz 80 pT Hz1/2
detection ranges 3.5, 70, 250 mT
transfer coefficient 1500, 75, 20 mV mT1
frequency response 0–1000 Hz
long-term stability 5 nT h1
Figure 9 Noise spectra of the GMI magnetometer measured within analog output 4.5 V
a magnetic shield. The calibration magnetic signals (70 nT/0.5 nT) power supply þ5.5 V  90 mA
were used at a frequency f ¼ 120 Hz.

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magnetometer are manufactured. The reliability of the [7] V. Zhukova, M. Ipatov, J. Gonzalez, J. M. Blanco, and
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MAT2010-18914, by the Basque Government under SAIOTEK- [16] N. A. Usov and S. A. Gudoshnikov, J. Appl. Phys. 113,
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