9

A1201-DS, Rev. 2

Worcester, Massachusetts 01615-0036 (508) 853-5000

115 Northeast Cutoff, Box 15036

www.allegromicro.com

Allegro MicroSystems, Inc.

Continuous-Time Bipolar Switch Family

A1201, A1202, A1203, and A1204

back to the low state.

The typical output behavior of the A120x devices is latching.

That is, switching to the low state when the magnetic field at

are specified in the Magnetic Characteristics table, on page 3.

Note that, as shown in figure 1, these switchpoints can lie in

either north or south polarity ranges.

The A120x family is designed to attain a small hysteresis, and

thereby provide more sensitive switching. Although this means

that true latching behavior cannot be guaranteed in all cases,

proper switching can be ensured by use of both south and north

magnetic fields, as in a ring magnet. The hysteresis of the A120x

family allows clean switching of the output, even in the presence

of external mechanical vibration and electrical noise.

Bipolar devices adopt an indeterminate output state when pow-

ered-on in the absence of a magnetic field or in a field that lies

within the hysteresis band of the device.

For more information on Bipolar switches, refer to Application

Note 27705, Understanding Bipolar Hall Effect Sensors.

CONTINUOUS-TIME BENEFITS

Continuous-time devices, such as the A120x family, offer the

fastest available power-on settling time and frequency response.

Due to offsets generated during the IC packaging process,

continuous-time devices typically require programming after

packaging to tighten magnetic parameter distributions. In con-

trast, chopper-stabilized switches employ an offset cancellation

technique on the chip that eliminates these offsets without the

need for after-packaging programming. The tradeoff is a longer

settling time and reduced frequency response as a result of the

chopper-stabilization offset cancellation algorithm.

valid, a control unit reads the output. Position 5, power is removed from the device.

Output Sampled

1

5

4

2

t

t

3