Current sensors based on GMR effect for smart grid applications

Abstract In the smart grid, wide-area current measurement system is of great importance to assist with the estimation of the power grid loss and the smart dispatching. However, the limited current sensing techniques have always been an obstacle to realizing such system. Recently, the development of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) based sensors has offered an effective solution to address this issue. The outstanding merits of compact size, high sensitivity and cost-effective price of GMR sensors have made them a perfect choice for widely distributed current measurement and data collection in smart grid. In this paper, with a design of flux guided structure for line current sensing, typical performance characteristics of optimized GMR design are illustrated. The validity of the structure is demonstrated with simulation and experiment. Based on the characteristics of GMR sensors, their prospects for application in smart grid are further discussed.

[1]  Young,et al.  Giant magnetoresistance in heterogeneous Cu-Co alloys. , 1992, Physical review letters.

[2]  M. Iwahara,et al.  Eddy-current testing probe with spin-valve type GMR sensor for printed circuit board inspection , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics.

[3]  Y. Wen,et al.  Self-Contained Wireless Hall Current Sensor Applied for Two-Wire Zip-Cords , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics.

[4]  T. Sagara,et al.  Magnetoresistive Sensors , 1993, IEEE Translation Journal on Magnetics in Japan.

[5]  Bruce Alvin Gurney,et al.  Design and operation of spin valve sensors , 1994 .

[6]  J. Sánchez Moreno,et al.  Temperature compensation of Wheatstone bridge magnetoresistive sensors based on generalized impedance converter with input reference current , 2006 .

[7]  Per Ohlckers,et al.  Compensation of sensitivity shift in piezoresistive pressure sensors using linear voltage excitation , 1995 .

[8]  R. S. Beech,et al.  Magnetic field sensors using GMR multilayer , 1994 .

[9]  C. Aroca,et al.  The influence of anisotropy on the magnetoresistance of permalloy-copper-permalloy thin films , 2002 .

[10]  Jun Hu,et al.  A Current Sensor Based on the Giant Magnetoresistance Effect: Design and Potential Smart Grid Applications , 2012, Sensors.

[11]  Jaquelin K. Spong,et al.  Giant magnetoresistive spin valve bridge sensor , 1996 .

[12]  James M. Daughton,et al.  Applications of spin dependent transport materials , 1999 .

[13]  P. P. Freitas,et al.  Spin-valve current sensor for industrial applications , 2003 .

[14]  Luan Wen-peng.  Advanced Metering Infrastructure , 2009 .

[15]  Robert E. Fontana,et al.  Low-field magnetoresistance in magnetic tunnel junctions prepared by contact masks and lithography: 25% magnetoresistance at 295 K in mega-ohm micron-sized junctions (abstract) , 1997 .

[16]  Candid Reig,et al.  Design, fabrication, and analysis of a spin-valve based current sensor , 2004 .

[17]  J. He,et al.  Prediction and optimization for linearity of MTJ magnetic sensors based on single-domain model , 2015, 2015 IEEE Magnetics Conference (INTERMAG).

[18]  Zhenghan Zhao,et al.  A Giant Magneto Resistive (GMR) Effect Based Current Sensor With a Toroidal Magnetic Core as Flux Concentrator and Closed-Loop Configuration , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity.

[19]  Radivoje Popovic,et al.  Integrated Hall-effect magnetic sensors , 2001 .

[20]  Càndid Reig,et al.  Magnetic Field Sensors Based on Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR) Technology: Applications in Electrical Current Sensing , 2009, Sensors.

[21]  Paulo P. Freitas,et al.  Tuning of MgO barrier magnetic tunnel junction bias current for picotesla magnetic field detection , 2006 .

[22]  Jinliang He,et al.  Contactless Current Sensors Based on Magnetic Tunnel Junction for Smart Grid Applications , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics.

[23]  John Anderson,et al.  Three-axis magnetometers using spin-dependent tunneling: reduced size and power , 2003, SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing.

[24]  Bernard Dieny,et al.  Magnetotransport properties of magnetically soft spin‐valve structures (invited) , 1991 .

[25]  C. Chien,et al.  Magnetism and Giant Magneto-Transport Properties in Granular Solids , 1995 .

[26]  R. Coehoorn,et al.  Magnetic multilayers and giant magnetoresistance : fundamentals and industrial applications , 2000 .

[27]  James M. Daughton,et al.  Magnetic design and fabrication of linear spin-valve sensors , 2003 .

[28]  Boris Murmann,et al.  Matrix-insensitive protein assays push the limits of biosensors in medicine , 2009, Nature Medicine.

[29]  A. Panchula,et al.  Magnetically engineered spintronic sensors and memory , 2003, Proc. IEEE.

[30]  Hao Chen,et al.  A Ferromagnetic Design for Current Sensor Temperature Characteristics Improvement , 2018, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[31]  B Murmann,et al.  GMR biosensor arrays: correction techniques for reproducibility and enhanced sensitivity. , 2010, Biosensors & bioelectronics.