Analytic modeling and FEM simulation of a resonant micromachined magnetic field sensor

In this paper, analytic modeling and simulation results are described for a new design of micromachined resonant magnetic field sensor. The sensing methodology for this design is based on measuring the shift in the resonant frequency of an electrostatic comb-drive resonator, when the sensor is exposed to an external magnetic field. An analytic model of the sensor is derived and its results are compared against those obtained from finite element simulations in ANSYS. The finite element simulation results suggest that the sensitivity of the sensor is about 213 Hz/T.