Technical Session: Rediscovery of the Wiegand Effect - Sensing & Energy Harvesting for the IoT

Session details:

The Wiegand effect was widely used in rotation sensors and key cards. Over the last years Hall-sensors and RFID have taken over these applications and the macroscopic extension of the Barkhausen effect was about to be forgotten.

The revival of the Wiegand wire comes with low power electronics. The energy of a single pulse can power counters, detect position changes and even power ultra-wideband-transmission (UWB) systems. The technology is now widely accepted replacing batteries or gears in rotary multi-turn encoders and metering devices.

Current R&D projects aim on optimizing the Wiegand wire and sensors to harvest energy for a variety of battery-less sensors and wireless transmission which will be key for the Internet-of-Things.