500 °C Microtesla Sensitive Magnetic Field Sensing Using a 4H-SiC PIN Diode

Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors possess a large potential for the development of sensors operating in harsh environments. In this article, we present an in-depth investigation of the magnetic field sensing capabilities of a 4H-SiC-based lateral pin diode up to a temperature of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$500~^{\circ }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> C. We characterize the diode in terms of magnetic field sensitivity, linearity, stability, and current noise. By combining the sensitivity and noise measurements, we finally evaluate the magnetic field detectivity. The results reflect the potential of the diode for magnetic field sensing in harsh environments as well as for electric current sensing applications in SiC power modules.