TY - JOUR A1 - Nicolicea, Alberto A1 - Oliveros-Mata, E. S. A1 - Zabila, Y. A1 - Makarov, D. A1 - Melzer, Michael A1 - Pelkner, Matthias T1 - Flexible anisotropic magnetoresistive sensors for novel magnetic flux leakage testing capabilities N2 - Rigid magnetic field sensors such as anisot Hall sensors have been used for years and have become industry standard for electromagnetic non-destructive testing (NDT). Recent technological developments in the field of flexible electronics allow for the fabrication of reshapeable magnetic field sensors on flexible substrates via thin-film deposition or printing. The magnetic properties of these sensors have comparable characteristics to industry-standard rigid magnetic field sensors, with the added ability of adapting to the surface of complex components and scanning in contact with the sample surface. This improves defect detectability and magnetic signal strength by minimizing the scanning lift-off (LO) distance. In this article flexible AMR sensors mounted on a rotative mechanical holder were used to scan a semi-circular ferromagnetic sample with 3 reference defects via magnetic flux leakage (MFL) testing, thus demonstrating the applicability of this type of sensors for the scanning of curved samples. In order to benchmark the performance of these sensors in comparison to industry standard rigid magnetic field sensors, a ferromagnetic sample with 10 reference defects of different depths was scanned employing flexible AMR and rigid GMR sensors. Defects with depths ranging from 110 μm up to 2240 μm were detected with an signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) of 2.7 up to 27.9 (for flexible AMR sensors) and 6.2 up to 72.3 (for rigid GMR sensors), respectively. A 2D magnetometer mapping of the sample with a spatial scanning step of 10 × 50 μm2 (flexible AMR) and 16 × 100 μm2 (rigid GMR) was obtained. The results show that this type of sensor can be used for high-resolution and high-detail mapping of defects on the surface of planar and non-planar ferromagnetic samples since the scanning lift-off distance is equal to the substrate thickness of 20 μm for in-contact scanning. The SNR comparison between flexible and rigid sensors shows that the performance of the flexible AMR sensors employed is not very far behind the performance of the rigid GMR sensors used. KW - Flexible magnetic field sensors KW - Non-destructive testing KW - Magnetic flux leakage KW - Thin film sensor fabrication KW - Defect detection PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-603931 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ndteint.2024.103160 SN - 0963-8695 VL - 146 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-60393 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nicolicea, Alberto A1 - Oliveros-Mata, E. S. A1 - Makarov, D. A1 - Melzer, Michael A1 - Pelkner, Matthias T1 - Flexible anisotropic magnetoresistive sensors for novel eddy current testing applications N2 - The standard method for eddy current testing (ET) of conductive materials relies on using rigid coils. In recent years magnetoresistive (MR) sensors in combination with an excitation wire have become a promising candidate for this application since it would increase the spatial resolution. New developments in flexible electronics have enabled the production of flexible sensors with the novel capability of scanning samples in conformal contact with the surface. In this article flexible anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) sensors were used in combination with a thin induction wire to perform eddy current testing of a curved aluminum sample with several defects imprinted on its surface. To benchmark the performance of this new method, a flat sample with reference defects of various dimensions was also scanned using flexible AMR sensors, inductive coils and rigid giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensors. The results show that this new method of using flexible magnetic field sensors coupled with an excitation wire can easily be applied to the scanning of curved samples, while in the benchmark test employing the flat sample, the performance is not far behind more conventional techniques, with defects with depths down to 30 μm and widths down to 400 μm being detectable with an SNR of 3 (signal magnitude) and 8 (signal phase shift) at the excitation frequency of 50 kHz, and defects with depths down to 30 μm and widths down to 600 μm being detectable with an SNR of 10 (signal magnitude) and 17 (signal phase shift) at 260 kHz. KW - Magnetic field sensors KW - Flexible magnetic field sensors KW - Flexible electronics KW - Non-destructive testing KW - Eddy current testing KW - Thin film sensor fabrication KW - Defect detection KW - Magnetism PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-634325 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2025.117340 SN - 1873-412X VL - 253, Part A SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-63432 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Nicolicea, Alberto A1 - Pelkner, Matthias A1 - Melzer, Michael A1 - Oliveros-Mata, E. S. A1 - Zabila, Y. A1 - Makarov, D. T1 - Flexible AMR sensors for novel non-destructive testing capabilities N2 - Reshapeable magnetic field sensors fabricated on flexible substrates by thin-film deposi-tion or printing have recently emerged with promising applications in different field. In this study, flexible anisotropic magneto-resistive (AMR) sensors were used for the scanning of a curved and flat sample with reference defects, to prove the capability of this method for curved surface scanning, and to benchmark the performance when compared to a more standard method using rigid giant magneto-resistive (GMR) sensors. Defects with depths ranging from 110 μm up to 2240 μm were detected with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 2.7 up to 27.9 employing flexible AMR sensors. T2 - XMR-Symposium CY - Wetzlar, Germany DA - 12.03.2025 KW - non-destructive testing KW - Flexible sensor KW - Magnetoresistance PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 6 AN - OPUS4-65045 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Melzer, Michael A1 - Makarov, D. A1 - Schmidt, O. G. T1 - A review on stretchable magnetic field sensorics N2 - The current establishment of stretchable electronics to form a seamless link between soft or even living materials and the digital world is at the forefront of multidisciplinary research efforts, bridging physics, engineering and materials science. Magnetic functionalities can provide a sense of displacement, orientation or proximity to this novel formulation of electronics. This work reviews the recent development of stretchable magnetic field sensorics relying on the combination of metallic thin films revealing a giant magnetoresistance effect with elastomeric materials. Stretchability of the magnetic nanomembranes is achieved by specific morphologic features (e.g. wrinkles or microcracks), which accommodate the applied tensile deformation while maintaining the electrical and magnetic integrity of the sensor device. The entire development, from the demonstration of the world’s first elastically stretchable magnetic sensor to the realization of a technology platform for robust, ready-to-use elastic magnetosensorics is described. Soft giant magnetoresistive elements exhibiting the same sensing performance as on conventional rigid supports, but with fully strain invariant properties up to 270% stretching have been demonstrated. With their unique mechanical properties, these sensor elements readily conform to ubiquitous objects of arbitrary shapes including the human skin. Stretchable magnetoelectronic sensors can equip soft and epidermal electronic systems with navigation, orientation, motion tracking and touchless control capabilities. A variety of novel technologies, like electronic skins, smart textiles, soft robotics and actuators, active medical implants and soft consumer electronics will benefit from these new magnetic functionalities. KW - Stretchable electronics KW - Giant magnetoresistance KW - Magnetic sensors KW - Magnetic thin films PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-502049 DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/ab52cf SN - 0022-3727 (Druck) SN - 1361-6463 (Web) VL - 53 IS - 8 SP - Paper 083002, 34 PB - IOP Publishing AN - OPUS4-50204 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -