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.