Magnetic sensor devices; innovation and applications

An article by SOTIRIA's Material Engineer cPhD Panagiotis Priftis.

Magnetic sensor devices are the primary source of measurements for a number of critical applications such as material monitoring, electronic compasses, geomagnetic surveys and ferromagnetic objects recognition. The development of magnetic sensing innovative products requires fundamental science research and the usage of state of the art technology in order to achieve the required properties in terms of quality, precision and effectiveness. At SOTIRIA, we conduct research and development of new magnetic materials by investigating the principles of electromagnetic signals and developing sensing elements to accurately detect those signals.

The materials that are needed to be utilised in order to develop our own state of the art devices in the field of magnetic anomaly detection is also a subject of specific interest. The properties of soft magnetic materials such as permalloy and amorphous magnetic wires and ribbons are being investigated so that they can be modified and improved from a quality perspective. For the development of high performance sensing elements for our devices we use a variety of methods such as electrochemical deposition and physical vapor deposition in order to accurately achieve the desired composition and geometry as well as thermal annealing techniques for the improvement of the magnetic properties. The electrical engineering of the devices is also an area that is being researched and designed at SOTIRIA. The signal and the read of data are all included in the same device’s electrical circuits.

The result of research and development of the materials is producing new innovative technology in the area of magnetic sensing devices, , made in Greece, that is easy to use and deploy. The high quality sensing data produced by those magnetic sensor devices is utilised as an input for SOTIRIA’s AI powered software to be used for applications such as offshore assets and terrain security as well as vessels structural health monitoring and preventive maintenance.