TDK Corporation and Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation (AKM) have jointly developed a highly accurate 3-axis magnetometer that combines an extremely sensitive tunnel magneto-resistive (TMR) element developed by TDK and an advanced electronic compass ASIC designed by AKM in a very small package. The new TMR magnetometer on a chip, which has miniature dimensions of just 1.6 mm x 1.6 mm x 0.6 mm, features the industry’s lowest RMS noise of just 40 nT-rms and a very low current consumption of only 40 µA at an output data rate of 100 Hz.

 

Due to its high sensitivity of 10 nT/LSB*, the magnetic sensor can detect minute changes in magnetic fields very precisely, enabling the highly accurate detection of both position and orientation with the help of the Earth’s magnetic field or a magnetic field generator. These unique characteristics make the TMR magnetometer ideal for compact electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, game console controllers and all kinds of wearable devices, as well as other applications that demand high position and orientation precision such as virtual, augmented or mixed reality (VR, AR, and MR) or indoor navigation. The new 3-axis magnetic sensor is also suitable for integration into IoT devices, for which strong market growth is expected.

 

The new sensor will be on display at the booths of both TDK and AKM at the Consumer Electronics Show 2018 (CES 2018), the world’s largest electronics exhibition, which will take place in Las Vegas, USA, from January 9 to 12, 2018.