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Updated: Apr 30, 2026

Quantifying the Relative Thickness of Conductive Ferromagnetic Materials Using Detector Coil-Based Pulsed Eddy Current Sensors
Published on: January 16, 2020
Sensor applications of soft magnetic materials based on magneto-impedance, magneto-elastic resonance and
Alfredo García-Arribas1, Jon Gutiérrez2, Galina V Kurlyandskaya3
1Department of Electricity and Electronics, Basque Country University (UPV/EHU), P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain. alf@we.lc.ehu.es.
Abstract:
The outstanding properties of selected soft magnetic materials make them successful candidates for building high performance sensors. In this paper we present our recent work regarding different sensing technologies based on the coupling of the magnetic properties of soft magnetic materials with their electric or elastic properties. In first place we report the influence on the magneto-impedance response of the thickness of Permalloy films in multilayer-sandwiched structures. An impedance change of 270% was found in the best conditions upon the application of magnetic field, with a low field sensitivity of 140%/Oe. Second, the magneto-elastic resonance of amorphous ribbons is used to demonstrate the possibility of sensitively measuring the viscosity of fluids, aimed to develop an on-line and real-time sensor capable of assessing the state of degradation of lubricant oils in machinery. A novel analysis method is shown to sensitively reveal the changes of the damping parameter of the magnetoelastic oscillations at the resonance as a function of the oil viscosity. Finally, the properties and performance of magneto-electric laminated composites of amorphous magnetic ribbons and piezoelectric polymer films are investigated, demonstrating magnetic field detection capabilities below 2.7 nT.
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