Power Generation

Photodiodes produce a voltage when light shines on them. This is how solar cells work. Solar
cells are arrays of large numbers of photodiodes. They have a large surface area and coatings
to maximise light absorption. This is the best arrangement for generating power.

Light Detection
If a reverse leakage current is flowing in the photodiode, this current is greatly increased by
incident light. This is the best arrangement for detecting light.

Simple Detector
A typical photodiode is the BPW41N. Here is a diagram showing the pinout and typical
component values. Note that the diode is reverse biased and its operation relies on leakage
current caused by incident light.

The current through the diode is about 0.5 µA in the dark rising to 100 µA when brightly lit
by infra red light.

Here is a layout and circuit diagram showing typical component values for the BPW41N
detector.

On the right is an Op Amp, current to voltage converter. It converts the diode leakage current
into a voltage.
Op Amp Detector / Receiver for Infra Red Amplitude
Modulation

 R1 and R2 form a voltage divider. This allows the 741 Op Amp to be used without a
negative supply.
 C1 is a decoupling capacitor. This ensures the voltage divider output is steady with no
AC signals present.
  The photodiode passes almost no current in the dark.
When lit, a leakage current flows.
 The 741 inverting input is a virtual earth.
When the diode leakage current flows, the output voltage alters to maintain the virtual
earth.
Vout = Leakage Current x R3.
If R3 is made bigger, the circuit becomes more sensitive but there is also more noise
(a hissing sound).
 C2 is a coupling capacitor.
AC signals from the 741 chip are passed to the LM386 Audio Amplifier.
DC signals are blocked.
 The Potentiometer is used as a volume control coltage divider.
 C4 is a coupling capacitor.
It couples the audio output to the loudspeaker while blocking the DC voltage.
 C3 and R4 make an equalisation circuit.
This is needed to prevent high frequency oscillations in the LM386 amplifier.
 C5 is a power supply decoupling capacitor.
It prevents low frequency oscillations in this circuit.

Project #7: Differential Light Detector (Complexity 7)

Use two light-sensitive diodes to determine the direction (left or right) where a light source is
Description:
located. This could be used to guide a vehicle or robot or solar panel towards a light source.
The circuit must have three mutually exclusive outputs (e.g., LEDs), one that is on if the brightness
measured by the left light sensor is 10% larger than the one measured by the right light sensor, one
Requirements:
that is on if the right sensor sees 10% more brightness than the left sensor, and one if the brightness
at the left sensor is within ±10% of the right sensor.
The circuit shown below can be used as light detector. Regular LEDs may be used instead of the
Hints:
SFH 213 photo diode, but they produce less photocurrent.

Light detector circuit. The following circuit can be used as a general purpose light detector.
The SFH 213 photodiode detects light with a wavelength between 400 nm (violet, blue) and
1100 nm (infrared). Use a value of about 100 kohms for R1 and a LF356 for the OpAmp.

Project #8: Red/Green Traffic Light Detector (Complexity 8)

Use a green and a red LED to detect green and red light, respectively. Indicate "green" by lighting
Description:
up a green LED and "red" by lighting up a red LED.
 The green LED must light up if the main light source in front of both light-detector LEDs is green,
and the red LED must light up if the main light source in front of both light-detector LEDs is red.
Requirements:
The red and green LEDs are not allowed to light up simultaneously, and ambient white light is not
allowed to trigger either the red or the green indicator LED.
High intensity LEDs work very well as light sensors using the circuit given below. Use a red LED
Hints: to detect red light and a green LED to detect green light. Note that the red and the green light-
detector LEDs may have different sensitivities.

LED light detector circuit. LEDs can not only emit light, they can also detect light. In fact,
they behave very much like solar cells, with the exception that their light-sensitive area is
much smaller and thus the photocurrent ip, which is proportional to both light intensity and
light-sensitive area, is also much smaller, typically on the order of a few hundred to a few
thousand nA (nano-ampères). The following circuit converts the photocurrent ip from the
LED to a voltage at the output. Typical elment values are R = 1 Mohm and RL = 2.2 kohm (or
anything larger).

Measurement circuits -- INCOMPLETE

Figure below shows a photodiode amplifier for measuring low levels of light. Best sensitivity
and bandwidth are obtained with a transimpedance amplifier, a current to voltage amplifier,
instead of a conventional operational amplifier. The photodiode remains reverse biased for
lowest diode capacitance, hence wider bandwidth, and lower noise. The feedback resistor sets
the “gain”, the current to voltage amplification factor. Typical values are 1 to 10 Meg Ω.
Higher values yield higher gain. A capacitor of a few pF may be required to compensate for
photodiode capacitance, and prevents instability at the high gain. The wiring at the summing
node must be as compact as possible. This point is sensitive to circuit board contaminants and
must be thoroughly cleaned. The most sensitive amplifiers contain the photodiode and
amplifier within a hybrid microcircuit package or single die.
Photodiode amplifier.

Current-to-Voltage Converter (AKA, I-V Converter, Transimpedance Amplifier).

This circuit takes an input current and converts it to an output voltage. The input impedance
of the ideal current to voltage converter is zero (the ideal current meter).

Analysis of the current-to-voltage converter starts with our op amp golden rules. From rule
#4 we know that and that V− = 0 because V+ is connected to ground. From rule #3 we
know that because no current flows into the inverting input.

Then we can find the relationship between Vin and Vout using Ohm’s law (OL) and
Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL).

The current-to-voltage converter has transimpedance gain. Transimpedance gain is not

unitless, it has units of impedance (Ohms). The units can also be expressed as V/A
(volts/ampere), which is often a more useful way to think of the gain—the output voltage per
input ampere. The transimpedance gain AZ is the derivative of Vout with respect to Iin. When
the amplifier has only one input and Vout = 0 when Iin = 0, we will make the assumption that
AV = Vout/Iin.
Voltage-to-Current Converter (AKA, V-I Converter, Transadmittance Amplifier).
This circuit takes an input voltage and converts it to an output current. The input impedance
of the voltage-to-current converter is the input impedance of the op amps input. For an ideal
op amp the input impedance is infinite. The schematic looks strange at first because there is
no output terminal! However the output is the current flowing through the load.

Analysis of the voltage-to-current converter starts with our op amp golden rules. From rule
#4 we know that and that V+ = Vin and V– = I1R1 (OL). From rule #3 we know that
because no current flows into the inverting input.

Then we can find the relationship between Vin and Iout.

The current-to-voltage converter has transadmittance gain. Transadmittance gain is not

unitless, it has units of admittance (Siemens, AKA Ohm–1). The units can also be expressed
as A/V (amperes/volt), which is often a more useful way to think of the gain—the output
current per input volt. The transadmittance gain AY is the derivative of Iout with respect to Vin.
When the amplifier has only one input and Iout = 0 when Vin = 0, we will make the assumption
that AY = Iout/Vin.

AN EXAMPLE OF OP-AMP CIRCUITS: CURRENT TO VOLTAGE CONVERTER

Using the rules of op-amp circuit design, given in the introduction to these experiments, it is
easy to see that the voltage at the output of the circuit below is equal to the input current
multiplied by the resistance R. The negative input is at ground (the same potential as the
positive input -rule 1) and current I has no place to go (rule 2) but through R. By choosing the
resistor value one can obtain a desired conversion of current into voltage shown by the meter.
The circuit can be used as an "ideal ammeter", i.e. the ammeter without internal resistance, if
one needs to measure currents flowing to ground. This is because the ammeter terminals will
be always at ground, no matter what the current is (within the op-amp specs). The voltmeter
need not be ideal; even if it has quite low resistance (rather than infinite resistance for the
ideal one) the low output impedance of the op-amp will not cause much voltage drop. In the
example above, a photo-transistor is connected at the input. Instead of the base current,
photons of light control the collector current of this BJT transistor which behaves like a
current source, with current dependent on the light intensity. The circuit is thus a sensitive
light meter which could be used, for example, in low-level light photography.

Assemble and test the performance of the light meter circuit. If you use a phototransistor, the
resistor R should be of the order of 100kΩ, larger if you use a photodiode. You may
substitute a light sensor for another current generating device if you wish to experiment.

Current to Voltage Converter

This circuit is an integral part of many potentiostats. It is exactly like the inverting amplifier,
but the input resistor is omitted. This circuit has two important properties:

* The V- input terminal is held at ground, and

* The Vo (volts) is equal to the input current (amps) x feedback resistance (ohms).

Hence, the current delivered from an electrochemical device can be measured exactly, as a
simple voltage.

In this case, the input current Iin cannot flow in or out of the input terminal of the op amp.
Therefore, it must flow through the feedback resistor Rf.
The terminal V- must be kept at ground potential, since otherwise Vo would rise or fall
'infinitely'. The op amp must provide a voltage that drives a current through Rf that is equal
an opposite to the Iin. This would occur when Vo = - Rf .Iin.

If Vo were to go positive, the current through Rf would increase. That is, the flow of
electrons to the right would increase, causing Vin to be depleted in electrons. The voltage at
V- would go positive, causing the term (V+ - V-) to decrease. This would force the output
voltage to fall, returning the current to zero.

There is much more to learn about op amps, but hopefully, this brief explanation should help
understand the operation of the potentiostat and other electrochemical circuits.

LM107
With this basic circuit, the input current is fed directly into the summing node
(pin 2) and the op-amp output changes to extract the same current from the
summing node through R1. The scale factor of this circuit is R1 volts per amp.
That is, the output voltage is equal to the input current times R1. The only
conversion error in this circuit is Ibias, which is summed algebraically with IIN.
The basic circuit can be used to measure current directly because: IIN =VOUT/R1.
For example, if VOUT is 1 V (or 1000mV), and R1 is 100 Ω,IN = 10mA.

5 Ways of Monitoring Electrical Current5

Current measurement is frequently used in the operation of electronic instrumentation. This tutorial
examines resistive current sensing, I-V converters, magnetic current sensing, closed-loop current
sensors, and current transformers.
Ed Ramsden, Cherry Electrical Products

With an impressive array of techniques, the engineering and scientific communities measure
electrical current in applications ranging from radiation sensing to battery charging. Current
is commonly measured over a range from pico-amperes (10–12) to thousands of amperes.

Electric current is the movement of charge carriers. Although positive charge carriers (e.g.,
ions and semiconductor holes) can transport current, the most commonly encountered
currents, such as those flowing in metal conductors, consist of negatively charged electrons.
The unit of current, the ampere, is equivalent to 6 x 10 18 unit charge carriers (e.g., electrons)
moving past a given point each second.

Current is measured principally through two effects: voltage drop and the generation of
magnetic fields (see Figure 1). In the first, the passage of current through a material produces
a voltage. For many conductive substances, the voltage is proportional to the current over a
wide range of conditions. By measuring the induced voltage drop, you can infer the current.
This is the basis for resistive current sensing. Alternatively, current can be measured by the
magnetic field it generates. Moving charge carriers generate magnetic fields oriented at right
angles to their motion. In empty space, the field is dependent only on the geometry of the
current path and a fundamental physical quantity called permeability (� 0 ). Permeability is a
measure of how well a material, or the lack of a material in the case of a vacuum, can conduct
magnetic fields. The major advantage of magnetic current sensing is isolation--no direct
contact with the circuit being monitored is required.

Resistive Current Sensing

Highly linear and stable resistors have been available as standard circuit components for
decades, and resistive current sensing is well known and understood. You put the sense
resistor in series with the circuit in which you want to measure current and then measure the
voltage drop across the resistor. You determine the current using Ohm's law:

I = V/R (1)

where:
I = the current in amperes
V = the measured voltage in volts
R = the resistance in ohms

Although this basic scenario captures the essence of resistive current sensing, it ignores many
details necessary for a successful implementation. Various application and system interface
requirements, combined with nonideal component behaviors, can complicate the design of a
good resistive current sensor.

The first step of a practical system is to make the voltage measurement. Here you'll encounter
two common situations: high-side current measurements and low-side (or ground-returned)
current measurements. In a high-side measurement (see Figure 2A), you have to use a
differential amplifier to measure the voltage difference across the resistor and report the
measurement as a ground-referenced signal. In many cases, general-purpose instrument
amplifiers can perform the task, but some devices are better suited to this type of application.
For example, the Burr-Brown INA-117 will function with a common-mode signal as high as
�200 V, simplifying current measurement in moderately high-voltage systems. Maxim's
MAX4173 operates from a single supply and will function with a common-mode signal of up
to 28 V, making it especially useful in low-
voltage/single-supply systems.

In a low-side measurement scheme (see Figure

2B), you measure current flowing back to
ground, and one of the terminals of the sense
resistor is tied to ground. In this case, you can
use the voltage at the ungrounded terminal of
the sense resistor to determine current. Because
of the fuzzy nature of ground in a system that
handles any significant amount of current, using
a differential amplifier to measure the voltage
across the sense resistor may also be warranted
in a low-side current sensor (see Figure 2C).
Figure 1. An electric current passing
This is especially true when the sense resistor is
through a conductor creates both a
mounted on a circuit board, because the voltage
voltage drop and a magnetic field,
measured on a circuit-board ground can vary
either of which can be used to sense the
considerably, depending on where the
magnitude and direction of the
measurement is made.
current.
With both high-side and low-side sensing schemes,
you encounter a number of problems.

Voltage Drop. The voltage drop created by the

sense resistor can interfere with the operation of the
circuit into which it is inserted. This requires you to
balance the voltage needed to make an accurate
measurement against the amount of voltage drop
that can be tolerated by the application.

Power Dissipation. In addition to generating a

voltage across a resistor, current generates heat in
the device, where the power dissipated is P = I 2 R.
Although small resistors don't require much
consideration from a thermal-design perspective
(other than not exceeding their maximum power
ratings), manufacturers often make larger devices to
be mounted on heat sinks. These devices will fail
rapidly when operated near rated power without
proper heat sinking. Ignoring the maximum power
and temperature ratings of sense resistors can
shorten their useful life--often in spectacular ways.
Figure 2. Current can be sensed in
Parasitic Series Resistance. Low-value resistors a high-side configuration (A), in
(<1 ) often have lead resistances that are a which the two terminals of the
substantial fraction (1% or more) of their rated sense resistor have a nonzero
resistance. This makes the resistor's value a function voltage, by using an instrument
of the lead length. The solution is to use separate amplifier. Although a low-side, or
wiring paths for the current-carrying circuits and the ground-returned, current sensor
measurement circuits (see Figure 3). This (B) doesn't require the use of an
arrangement is referred to as the four-wire, or instrument amplifier, better
kelvin, measurement technique. Because of the measurements can be made by
arrangement's popularity, many low-value precision using one (C) to compensate for
resistors are designed with four terminals--two for the fuzzy nature of ground in
carrying current and two for measuring the voltage many systems.
across the resistance element.

Parasitic Parallel Resistance. With high-value sense resistors (>1 M ), current leaking
around the resistor can degrade the device's effective accuracy. Contamination from solder
flux residues, fingerprints, and similar sources is the primary culprit. Many of the
contaminants, while not themselves conductive, become conductive upon absorbing moisture
from the air. This can cause circuits to display weather-dependent performance. Keeping
circuit boards and components clean will solve this problem.
Self-Heating Effects. The value of a resistor
changes slightly as a function of temperature.
In addition to experiencing the ambient
temperature of the environment, current
passing through a resistor will cause
additional heating. This effect will appear as a
deviation from Ohm's law, and the voltage
across the resistor will no longer be a linear
function of current. In addition, because
changes in temperature are not instantaneous,
the resulting nonlinearity will be a function of
time and past current levels and therefore be
difficult to compensate for further down the
measurement chain. Proper thermal design
and heat sinking should be used to limit the
Figure 4. At high frequencies, the parasitic
temperature excursions experienced by a
components in every resistor (A) can alter
current sense resistor.
the effective impedance of a current sense
resistor, making the effective resistance a
function of frequency (B).

Dynamic Effects. Resistances aren't the only

parasitics in a real resistor; inductances and
capacitances are also present. A parasitic
inductance manifests itself in series with the
main resistance, and parasitic capacitance
appears across the terminals (see Figure 4A).
Although these effects can be ignored at DC
or sufficiently low frequencies, they can
seriously impair the performance of a current
sensor at higher frequencies. In most
situations, either inductive effects or
capacitive effects dominate, depending on the
frequency of operation and the value of the
sense resistor. For low-value sense resistors,
Figure 3. The four-wire, or kelvin,
inductive effects tend to dominate, and for
measurement technique is useful for
high-value resistors, capacitive effects are
compensating for parasitic lead resistance
usually more pronounced. These parasitic
in sense resistors. Two leads carry the
components cause the sense resistor's
current, and two others are used to
impedance to change as a function of
measure voltage.
frequency, thus changing the V/I transfer ratio
(see Figure 4B).
 Figure 5. At first glance, a resistor may appear to be the ideal I-V
converter for a photodiode (A), but parasitic elements in the
photodiode (B) severely degrade linearity and frequency
response in the circuit.

While some parasitic effects are unavoidable, one major trap for the unwary results from
subtleties in resistor construction. Wire-wound and film resistors can have substantial
parasitic inductance if not properly designed. In the case of a wire-wound resistor--which is a
coil of resistance wire wound on an insulating form--it's easy to see where the inductance
comes from. In some instances, particularly with high-power resistors, you can actually see
the outline of the coil under the outer insulator. In the case of film resistors, the resistance
element is a layer of resistive film deposited on a cylindrical substrate. To get higher
resistance, the film is often cut in a spiral pattern. If this is the case for a particular resistor
you happen to be using, you also get an inductor thrown in at no additional charge. You can
avoid this problem by using resistors designed to minimize parasitic inductance.

I-V Converters

While the techniques described here work well when measuring moderate currents
(milliamperes to tens of amperes), they run into difficulties when used to measure small
currents, such as those with magnitudes of less than a microampere. Currents of this order of
magnitude are commonly produced by photodiodes (optical) and piezoelectric sensors to
measure vibration and pressure. To effectively interface with these types of devices, a
technique called I-V conversion is commonly used.

Figure 6. The active I-V converter uses an op amp and

negative feedback to convert photodiode current to
voltage and to provide a near ideal, low-impedance
load for the photodiode. By balancing the photodiode
 current with a reference current, you increase
linearity and frequency response over a simple sense
resistor.

To illustrate the need for specialized current-sensing techniques for low current levels,
consider the case of a typical photodiode. The hypothetical device has a current output of 10
�A when illuminated and 10 nA in total darkness (dark current). At first, it seems trivial to
connect a 1 M resistor across the photodiode
and measure the voltage drop (see Figure 5A).

But if you implement this solution, you'll quickly

encounter several problems. First, the photodiode
is a nonideal current source in two respects (see
Figure 5B): it has a finite output impedance that
varies over voltage, and it has a limited
compliance range (<1 V) into which it can
deliver any current at all. Although you would
expect 10 �A through 1 M to develop 10 V,
the most you could expect to see in practice
would be somewhat less than 1 V.

This leads to the second problem. When properly
used, a good photodiode is a highly linear device,
but a simple resistive load can ruin its linearity
unless the resistance is very small. A 10 K
current-sensing resistor might hold its linearity,
but it would provide only a meager full-scale
output voltage of 100 mV. Finally, a photodiode
has significant parasitic capacitance, often ~100
pF. The capacitance in parallel with a high resistance seriously limits frequency response.
100 pF in combination with 1 M results in a
low-pass rolloff frequency of only 1600 Hz.
Figure 7. A giant magneto-resistive
(GMR) magnetic sensor can sense
current in PCB traces. Care is
required in this implementation,
however, because the sensor will also
sense stray magnetic fields from other
sources.
An op-amp circuit commonly called an I-V
converter (see Figure 6) solves many of these Figure 8. A slotted toroid combined
problems. The circuit works not by trying to with a Hall effect sensor is a simple
accurately measure a large voltage drop but by and effective way of making a general-
balancing the incoming current with a purpose magnetic current sensor. This
separately generated current and then detecting type of sensor, known as an open-loop
the difference. To understand how the I-V device, is useful for measuring
converter operates, assume that the op amp is in currents ranging from a few amperes
negative feedback mode and will swing its to several hundred.
output to whatever value it can to make the
input voltage at its summing node (the negative terminal) 0. To take a 1 �A input current to
the summing node, the op amp will have to draw 1 �A out through R F . Assuming that the
voltage at the summing node is 0, this implies the output voltage will be �1 V (1 V/1 M =
1 �A). The transfer function for this circuit is given by:

V OUT = – R F * I IN (2)

For a modest amount of complexity, the I-V converter provides substantial benefits over
simple resistive current sensors when dealing with low-level signals. First, because the op
amp is actively trying to maintain its summing node at 0 V, the input appears to be a short
circuit to the transducer. For a high-impedance current-output transducer, a short circuit is the
ideal electrical load to drive,

allowing for the most dynamic range and the least nonlinearity. Another benefit is that the
voltage across the transducer is held constant. Finally, because a short circuit represents a
low-impedance load, the I-V converter maximizes the transducer's frequency response.

Magnetic Current Sensing

You can also detect electric current by the magnetic field it induces. The principal advantage
of using magnetic current sensing is that the sensing circuit need not have direct electrical
connection with the current being sensed. The isolation is advantageous in circumstances
where safety is critical, such as when measuring currents in high-voltage circuits.

In free space, the magnetic field existing around an infinitely long straight conductor is given
by:

where:

I = current in amperes

r = distance from the center of the

conductor in meters
� 0 = the permeability of free space
(1.26 x 10 –6 H/m)

B = magnetic field in tesla

In theory, by placing a magnetic sensor a known

distance from a conductor, you can infer the
current flowing through it. In practice, however,
simply holding a magnetic sensor near a conductor
is not an especially good way of sensing current.
The accuracy of the measurement is highly
dependent on the sensor-to-conductor separation.
And the fields generated by moderate currents at
reasonable distances are feeble--1 A generates a
field of only 0.4 gauss at a distance of 1 cm,
approximately equivalent to the earth's magnetic
field. Finally, other nearby conductors or geometric
changes (i.e., flexing) in the conductor will
introduce further inaccuracies. Figure 9. Magnetic toroid materials
display two nonideal effects--
However, this technique can work well when used saturation and hysteresis.
to measure currents on a PCB. Figure 7 shows how Saturation is the leveling off of
this can be done using a giant magnetoresistive response beyond a certain point.
(GMR) magnetic field sensor. A current flowing Hysteresis is a memory effect,
through a PCB trace will generate a field parallel to making the present field dependent
the PCB directly over the trace. GMR devices are on past fields. This manifests itself
sensitive to fields in this orientation. This primarily as a shift in the zero-
technique works because the conductor-to-sensor current flux in the toroid, resulting
separation is small (<1 mm) and tightly controlled in offset errors.
and because the conductors are rigidly fixed in
space (i.e., in the PCB traces). Finally, GMR
devices are highly sensitive and can readily discriminate small magnetic fields.

To make a good general-purpose magnetic current sensor, you have to provide a means of
directing the magnetic flux to the magnetic transducer. You can accomplish this by using a
toroidally shaped ring of highly permeable material (>>� ) as a flux concentrator (see Figure
8). In this device, the magnetic sensor resides in a slot, or gap, cut in the toroid. Hall effect
sensors are popular magnetic sensors for this application, and slotted toroids are readily
available to accommodate common types of Hall effect sensors. For reasons that will become
apparent later, this type of current sensor is known as an open-loop device.

A current sensor with a flux concentrator has several advantages over a device that relies on
fields in free space. The first and most significant advantage is that such a sensor becomes
insensitive to the position of the current-carrying conductor. For a properly designed current
sensor, placement of the conductor through the concentrator has a nearly insignificant effect
on overall sensitivity. The concentrator also increases the field available to the magnetic
sensor. Sensitivity is dependent on gap width being inversely proportional. For a typical
slotted ferrite toroid with a 0.06 in. gap, you can expect about 6–8 gauss per ampere,
depending on the toroid geometry and materials.
With a toroidal current sensor, you can boost the effective sensitivity of the device by
increasing the number of times the conductor passes through the toroid. Sensitivity is
increased by the number of turns--two turns provides twice the sensitivity of one turn. The
turn count is determined by the number of times the conductor passes through the hole. The
way in which you wind the turns will have minimal effect on sensitivity as long as the turns
are evenly spaced around the toroid. Try to avoid crowding the turns to one side of the
device.

But the use of a flux concentrator is not without its problems. The major drawbacks stem
from the nonideal behaviors of the high-permeability material used in the concentrator (see
Figure 9). The first problem is that of magnetic saturation. As the current through the toroid
increases, there is a point at which the increase in the magnetic field is no longer
proportional. For most materials, this point is not a sharp transition but occurs gradually, so
the maximum useful range of a current sensor may be limited by what is considered
acceptable accuracy, as opposed to hard saturation.

Another nonideal behavior associated with flux concentrators is that of hysteresis, or

memory. When a toroid is magnetically driven in one direction and then the magnetic drive is
removed, the toroid retains a small amount of field (called remanant flux) in the direction of
the original drive. For some magnetic materials, such as hardened steel, the remanant flux can
be a few hundred gauss, but for others, such as soft ferrite materials, it may be only a fraction
of a gauss. The overall effect of hysteresis on the operation of a current sensor is to cause a
shift in the zero-current output. Choosing the right toroid material is the best way to deal with
this problem. Ferrite materials are commonly used in current-sensing applications because
low-hysteresis varieties are readily available at low cost.

By running a conductor through a toroid, you add inductance to the circuit. Even though the
inductance developed by a single turn may be small (<1 �H), the total inductance will
increase as the square of the number of turns. When using many turns to increase sensitivity,
the series inductance can interfere with the operation of the circuit being measured and limit
the current sensor's frequency
response.

Figure 10. By using feedback to balance the

measured current with a feedback current, the
closed-loop current sensor avoids saturation
and achieves better linearity and frequency
Closed-Loop Current Sensors
response than its open-loop counterpart.
One way to avoid some of the Multiple turns in the balance winding let a
nonlinear behaviors of the flux relatively small feedback current balance a
concentrator and the magnetic sensor is larger measured current.
by balancing the current being
measured with a known current, as is done in the I-V converter (see Figure 10). An op amp
maintains a feedback loop that matches the measured current with a balance current
developed through a resistor. The op amp's voltage output is proportional to the balance
current, which in turn tracks the measured current.

Because magnetic flux is being canceled out, or balanced, it's possible to cancel out a large
measured current with a much smaller balance current by using more turns of wire on the
balance winding than on the measurement winding. Because turn ratios of 1000:1 and more
are readily achievable, you can build a current sensor capable of measuring currents of
hundreds of amperes while only needing a few tens of milliamperes of balance current. And
because the magnetic flux through the toroid is close to zero, saturation is no longer
dependent on the toroid and is limited by how much current the feedback circuit can deliver.
Because of the use of feedback, this type of current sensor is commonly referred to as a
closed-loop device.

Figure 11. For AC, a current transformer offers a simple electrically

isolated sensing solution (A). When a transformer is operated in its
frequency range, the primary and secondary currents are
interrelated by ip N P = N S , where N S and N P are the respective
number of turns (B). To properly use a current transformer, you
terminate the secondary winding into a low-value current-sensing
resistor (C) and measure the voltage present.

Current Transformers

When the current is strictly AC and contains no DC or offset components, current

transformers offer simple, isolated current measurement. Like the magnetic current sensor, a
current transformer is often constructed with a toroid that is made of some magnetic material
(see Figure 11A). A current transformer operates much like any other transformer, with the
current in the primary and secondary windings related by:

i S N S = i P N P (4)

where:
i P = primary current

i S = secondary current

N P = the number of turns in the primary

windings

N S = the number of turns in the

secondary windings

(see Figure 11B)

The primary current induces a secondary current,

which is converted into a voltage by a load resistor (R L ) (see Figure 11C). In a typical
current transformer application, the secondary will have more turns than the primary, which
will often have just one turn. This will result n the secondary current being substantially
lower and more manageable than the primary current.

Surprisingly, an ideal current transformer doesn't appear as an inductive load, as the Hall
effect current sensor did. Instead, it looks as if a resistor was added in series with the primary
winding. The value of this resistor is given by:

This parasitic resistance results in what is known as insertion loss and will cause voltage
drops in the primary circuit exactly as a real resistor of the same value would if in series.

In the case of an ideal transformer, the above description would be the end of the story.
Nonideal transformers, however, require a few additional design considerations. For current
measurement at low to moderate frequencies (<10 kHz), the most important considerations
are mutual coupling and secondary reactance. Mutual coupling is the degree to which the flux
generated by the primary winding passes through the secondary, and vice versa. For an
effective transformer, try to get as high a degree of mutual coupling as possible. Fortunately,
common architectures (e.g., toroids and E-cores) readily provide high degrees of coupling.

Appropriate amounts of reactance are also required for the transformer to behave in a close-
to-ideal manner; the reactance of the secondary circuit at the frequencies of interest must be
significantly higher (>10 *) than its total resistance. Otherwise the transformer's secondary
current will not accurately reflect the primary current. Although it's possible to calculate the
inductance of the secondary circuit from the first principals and the material properties, toroid
manufacturers usually provide this information in their catalog for each model, expressed in
mH/1000 turns. To compute the reactance of a winding at a given frequency, you use:

where:

f = the operating frequency in Hz

A l = the characteristic inductance in

mH/1000 turns

N = the number of turns

Z R = the inductive reactance in ohms

Although magnetic saturation is a concern in a current transformer, the amount of AC needed

to cause saturation is significantly greater than you would expect. This is because in a well-
designed transformer, operating within its intended frequency range, the induced secondary
current generates flux in opposition to that which is developed by the primary current. This
greatly reduces the overall flux in the toroid.

A DC, however, will easily saturate the toroid because no opposing DC with be induced in
the secondary circuit. For this reason, current transformers are often a bad choice for use with
circuits carrying any significant amounts of DC. Saturation, however, can be detected by
observing the output waveform and looking for distortion.

Conclusion

To implement an effective current sensor, you must understand the available technology and
the application in which it is to be used. This article has outlined the requirements,
implementations, and pitfalls of a few current sensing methods, based on the use of both
resistive and magnetic techniques.