Abstract
There is growing interest in the development of biosensing instrumentation based on magnetic labeling of biological molecules and subsequent detection of the superparamagnetic particles that constitute the labels. Thin film micro-Hall sensors are a practical choice of device for detection of magnetic particles because of their scalability, high sensitivity and compatibility with coventional silicon ICs. In the paper, we review the basic physics of Hall sensors and describe the results of our recent expriments on the fabrication of high sensitivity micro-Hall biosensors using InSb thin films for the detection of superparamagnetic particles coated with biological molecules. Issues related to sensor fabrication, magnetic field sensitivity and biological functionalization are discussed.
