Multiphysics System Co-Design of a High-Precision, High-Voltage (±600V) Isolated Hall-Effect Current Sensor

Abstract

Hall-Effect current sensor is a transducer type, which senses the strength of a magnetic field caused by the detected current and changes its voltage output accordingly. Linear Hall-Effect integrated circuits (ICs) provide non-invasive, safe sensing, and detection of high DC, AC, and pulse current levels without dissipating additional power associated with resistive current-sensing methods. Typical applications of current sensing include overcurrent protection, monitoring and diagnostics, and closed-loop control in high-voltage, high-current systems. The current sensor options available for high-voltage applications are typically isolated shunt-based, closed-loop Hall-effect, or an in-package based Hall-Effect. The in-package Hall-Effect current sensor technology is preferred as market needs drive highly-integrated, high-performance, and cost-effective solutions. While beneficial, integration leads to multiple design complexities due to increasing system multiphysics interactions. This paper presents a multiphysics system (silicon + package + PCB) co-design of an in-package Hall-Effect current sensor IC that can be adopted early in the design process. The development and implementation of the coupled electrothermal and system modeling methodology are fully detailed. Silicon validation measurements on a high-precision, high-voltage (±600V) Hall-Effect current sensor device are presented that validate the integrity of the multiphysics system co-design modeling and analysis methodology.