Planar fluxgate layouts using a single layer of coils

• We developed planar fluxgate magnetometers using a single layer of coils.
• The sensitivity were found to be up to three times higher than a analogous double layer sensor.
• The noise levels were found to be similar to an analogous double layer sensor.
• Extra excitation coils and higher excitation amplitudes can further reduce the noise.

This work describes the development of planar fluxgate magnetometers consisting of a single coils’ layer. The constructed sensors can achieve analogous noise levels to a similar double layer device, while reducing the manufacture complexity. The tread-off is an early limit in noise reduction by increasing the excitation amplitude, caused by the non-directly excited core part. But placing extra excitation coils parallel to the pick-up ones can avoid this minimum threshold. Fabrication and characterization are presented and discussed.