Applications for Hall Effect IC Switches in Portable Applications

Consumer electronics—especially the portable consumer electronics portion—place high demand on suppliers, requiring small size, high functionality, low power consumption, and low cost as the major criteria for acceptance. In this highly competitive arena, the Hall effect, a magnetic technology using large-scale integrated circuit (LSI) technology and advanced packaging, is proving to be the right solution for many portable consumer electronic products.

In portable electronics, Hall effect sensors provide an effective alternative to mechanical switches with increased reliability, as well as cost and/or performance advantages over other non-contact technologies. This paper describes applications for Hall IC switches in portable electronics and discusses the basics of Hall Effect technology. It also introduces Rohm's Hall Effect technology and its topologies.