Magnetic Sensitive Inks for Non-Contact Sensors (MSINCS)

MSINCS application stems from researchers having recently proved that magneto-sensitive ink can be painted on just about any substrate and can maintain a Giant Magneto Resistance (GMR) ratio of up to 8%. Automotive manufacturers are placing ever-increasing demands on accurate sensor systems for applications eg, steering, fuel level, throttle. In the sensor market there has been an increasing trend toward Non-Contact Sensors (NCS) among some end user markets as automotive and aerospace. This has been done in an effort to avoid wear and tear that Contact Sensors (CS) exhibit and to better meet stringent reliability requirements. Of all the NCS, magnetic sensing has the largest market share. In terms of costs however it is greater than 3X the cost of equivalent CS. MSINCS will seek to use techniques based on developing NCS with novel magnetic sensitive ink formulations for direct screen printing on FR4 and ceramic substrates and with the purpose of achieving lower cost (less than 1.5x the cost of an equivalent CS) whilst giving matched performance as well as environmentally friendly manufacturing processes over conventional magnetic NCS. MSINCS project is divided into three phases.Phase 1: Manufacture a magneto resistive sensor using sputtered permalloy construct for benchmarking. This includes the implementation of a FPGA integrated circuit for conditioning the sensor output signal. Phase 2: Testing the synthesis of GMR inks using (1) bi-layer thin film stacks of Ferro and non-Ferromagnetic materials from thin film deposition sputtering techniques and (2) composite mix of Ferro and non- Ferromagnetic nano, Ferromagnetic micron particle materials, with both systems set into a paste form for suitable screen printing to compare with results benchmarked. Phase 3: Implementation of specific systems as developed for a few of the many customers led and driven applications such as position sensing for automotive throttle, accelerator and harsh condition fuel level.