| US 7,602,178 B2 | ||
| Magnetoresistive sensor for measuring the strength of a magnetic field | ||
| Michel Hehn, Neuves Maisons (France); Alain Schuhl, Nancy (France); Grégory Malinowski, Villiers les Nancy (France); Christophe Nicot, Quintal (France); and Christophe Duret, Annecy (France) | ||
| Assigned to S.N.R. Roulements, Annecy (France) | ||
| Appl. No. 10/548,604 PCT Filed Mar. 10, 2004, PCT No. PCT/FR2004/000574 § 371(c)(1), (2), (4) Date May 17, 2006, PCT Pub. No. WO2004/083881, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 30, 2004. |
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| Claims priority of application No. 03 03189 (FR), filed on Mar. 14, 2003; and application No. 03 50545 (FR), filed on Sep. 16, 2003. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0159164 A1, Jul. 12, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. G01R 33/02 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 324—252 | 12 Claims |
| 1. A magnetoresistive sensor for measuring a magnetic field strength, comprising:
a stack of a reference element,
a separation element, and
an element sensitive to the magnetic field,
wherein the reference element and the sensitive element have, respectively, a first and a second magnetic anisotropy in a
first and a second direction, and
wherein the sensitive element comprises a layer of a ferromagnetic material superposed with a layer of an antiferromagnetic
material arranged to obtain a magnetic moment having a component oriented in a direction of a magnetic field to be measured
that varies reversibly in relation to a strength of the measured magnetic field and linearly in an adjustable field range.
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