IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. MAG-23, NO.

5 , SH'TEMBER 1987 3503

INVESTIGATION OF MULTI-ABILITY TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE MAGNETIC SEMICONDUCTOR

WITH NON LINEAR NEGATIVE RESISTANCE

K. Seki*, H. Osada*, J. Shida* andK. Murakami+*

*
Dept. of Electrical Engng., Iwate Univ., Morioka,
020 Japan
** Dept. of Electrical Engng., Tohoku Univ., Sendai,
980 Japan

ABSTRACT is given by a B-H loop under a fixed magnetomotive

force (mmf) and the follow.ing equation.
The temperature-sensitive magnetic semiconductor
is one kindof ferrite which is called a temperature- Sp = s'/@ (1)
sensitive magnetic core whose magnetic and electrical
properties both exhibit a marked temperature dependence. where gr is mmf and9 is flux.
The temperature-sensitive magnetic semiconductor can be The reluctanceI indicates the increasing charac-
regarded as a multi-ability magnetic semiconductor de- teristics with a rise in temperature and approaches an
vice, having the effect of adding a thermistor and a infinity valueat its Curie temperature because of the
bidirectional diode to the temperature-sensitive mag- disappearance of 9 , therefore having the ability of
netic core. cut off the magnetic circuit.
'.
Ferrites are semiconductors Therefore, the tem-
INTRODUCTION perature-sensitive magnetic semiconductor is true semi-
conductor whose the resistance R from ref. [2] is given
The temperature-sensitive magnetic semiconductor by the same equation as an intrinsic semiconductor.
has the excellent magnetic characteristics as compared
with a conventional magnetic semiconductor, Eu-chalco- R = Roexp (B/T) (2)
genide. which has the Curie, below room temperature.
We found worthy experimental results on the samples as where T is temperature, Rand O and B are constants.
follows: (1) The temperature dependent resistance of a Figure 2 shows the temperature dependent resist-
sample in the low voltage range has nearly the same ance R of the samples with semiconducting properties
values as other semiconductors which are used as ther- such as a thermistor in the low voltage range.
mistors. ( 2 ) A symmetrical non linear negative re- R shows a marked decrease and the conductivity in
sistance including three states, a cut off state, a the electrical circuit increases with a rise in temper-
negative resistance state, and an "on" state, appears ature from equation ( 2 ) and figure2.
in the high voltage range.( 3 ) Magnetic and electrical The temperature coefficientff of a samples is as
sensors constructed with a sample can individually and follows:
simultaneously send out more than one signal. There-
fore, the temperature-sensitive magnetic semiconductor a = (l/R)(dR/dT) = B/T2 (3) -
as a multi-ability magnetic semiconductor device can be
used with a temperature measuring instrument, a temper- ff has a negative value and becomes -4.5 % /deg
ature frequency inverter and an overvoltage protector. the same as a thermistor at 2OoC.
Therefore, a sample can be regarded as a tempera-
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ture-sensitive magnetic semiconductor.

Fundamental characteristics Non linear negative resistance

The temperature-sensitive magnetic semiconductors Figure 3 shows (a) Shapes of a sample and elec-
used in the experiment are Mn-Cu ferrite cores annealed trode and (b) A measuring circuit for the current-
in nitrogen gas. These samples have been prepared by voltage characteristic. In figure (a), the Ag elec-
Tohoku Metal Industlies, Ltd., Japan. trode P is glued to the surface of a sample. The size
Figure 1 shows the reluctance 9 of the tempera- of the plate: W=lcm, L=1.5cm, H=O.lcm.
ture-sensitive magnetic semiconductor samples (TMS35, T In figure (b), non linear negative resistance
MS45,TMS55)andtemperaturecharacteristics.The characteristics can be measured by connecting current I
numbers of the samples are their Curie temperature. $%' so as to flow through the sample and connecting its
terminal voltageE to the vertical and horizontal axes
of anX-Y recorder.

-:TMS35
-:TMS45

0'
0
10 20 30 40 50 60
T("C)
Fig. 1 Temperature dependence on reluctance
Sp Fig. 2 Temperature characteristics on resistance R
of various samples. of various samples.

0018-9464/87/0900-3503$01.00@1987 IEEE
3504

Dc current-voltage exhibits the symmetrical non-

linear negative resistance characteristics with hys-
teresis, as shown in figure 4.
With a rise in voltage, current first moves line-
arly from point 0 to A (threshold Vh) with a high
resistance in the low voltage range. The relation be-
tween the current and the voltage gradually becomesa
non linear line the closer it approaches Vh. When
voltage E reaches Vh ina high voltage range, the cur- -50 -40
--ct

y1000

~ i 5~ Resistsnce
. vs. current characteristic.
0 0
From the above we conclude that a samlpe can be
used in the fieldof power electronics as
a bidirectio-
nal diode.

Examples of application

Let us introduce some examples which use the semi-

conducting and magnetic properties of a temperature-
Fig. 3 (a) Shapes of sample and electrode. sensitive magnetic semiconductor.
(b) Measuring circuit for current-voltage Figure 6 shows (a) Temperature measuring circuit
characteristic. and (b) Temperature-frequency inverter. In figure (a),
an unbalanced bridge circuit for temperature dependent
rent I suddenly increases and rapidly turns ato nega- resistance of plate-formed sample with Curie tempera-
tive resistance characteristic and attains point B (Is) ture of 55OC transmits temperature change toa micro-
in a short time. ammeter fl A.
Therefore, a sample has three states,a cut off, Figure 7 shows the relation between the current Io
OA, anegative resistance, AB, and an "on", B. of a flA and the temperature, in which I O indicates an
With the decrease in voltage, the current goes increasing curve due to a decreasing resistance of a
down from point B to C following the arrow and terminalsample with the rise in temperature. A simplified
voltage develops. After I reaches pointC, both E and thermometer obtained by the semiconducting properties
I fall and return to the starting point 0. The differ- of a sample can be realized without selfheating.
ence between the rise and the decrease in voltage In figure6 (b), the double inverter using a ring-
causes hysteresis to occur. formed sample TMS45 can be constructed by connecting
The non linear characteristic of resistance to electrode P and windingN into an astable multivibrator
current is shown in figure 5. Resistance R comes down AM, and a magnetic multivibrator MM, respectively. In
from point 0' to A' andB' (Is) witha rise in current this cace, a sample in the AM and MM circuits acts as
and increases from point B ' to C ' and 0' with a de- an electrical and magnetic element, respectively.
crease in current. In both case hysteresis occurs. Figure 8 shows the double temperature-frequency
Points 0 ' and B ' are "cut off" and "on" states, respec- inverter used in the experiment: (a) Magnetic multi-
tively. The resistance ratio of the "cut off" and the vibrator, MM, (b) Astable rnultivibrator AM. A sample
"on" state is less than l/lOOO. is adapted as the magnetic core and as the base res
If the applied voltageV is reversed, the symmet- ance R 2 in theMM and AM circuits, respectively.
rical characteristics ina third quadrant are as shown The sizeof the sample is 2.5 cm in outside diame-
in figure 4 and 5. It is evident thata bidirectional ter, 1.5 cm in inside diameter0.5and cm in height.
switching behavior is possible. Figure 9 shows the frequency (f) vs. the tempera-
ture (T) obtained from MM and AM circuits in figure
8. Curves (a) and (b) indicate the characteristics Of

-,-,
-200 -100 '"

-:TMS 35
-:TMS 45
-40 -:TMS 55
-f-50
Fig. 6 (a) Bridge circuit for temperature
measurement.
Fig. 4 Current vs. voltage characteristics of (b) Structure of temperature-frequency
samples. inverter.
 3505

T = 25OC
Fig. 7 Temperature characteristicof current
through bridge circuit.
Fig. 10 Voltage waveshapes obtained from temperature-
-E2
frequency inverter. (a) Temperature-sensitive
TMS45 astable multivibrator AM. (b) Temperature-
sensitive magnetic multivibratorMM.

As shown in figure 11, the apparatus supplied

power to load R L using SCR has the effect of protecting
load against overvoltage. When SCR turns on within the
rated voltage V , the sample TMS45 is fixed at the "cut
off" region because of its terminal voltage which is
below the threshold.

Fig. 8 (a) Temperature-sensitive magnetic multi-

vibrator MM.
+"?
(b) Temperature-sensitive astable multi-
vibrator AM. a 0 1 -
Y
1

the MM circuit and curves (c)an$ (d) that of the AM

circuit. (a) and (c) show the individual actions of
the MM and AM circuits, while (b) and (d) simultaneous
actions of both circuits.
All curves increase with the rise in temperature,
and curves (a) and (b) vanish at the Curie temperature
of 45OC.Curves(a)and(c)intheirindividual
actions are in accord with (b) and (d) in their simul-
b 0

taneous actions. The agreement of these actions means

a commom use of electrical and magnetic circuits in the Fig. 11 Overvoltage protecting circuit using
sample. sample TMSB5.
Figure 10 ( photogragh ) shows the voltage wave
shapes obtained from the simultaneous actions of both When applying high voltage above the threshold, a
AM and MM circuits with a stability in their operation. sample rushes into an "on" state, so its terminal volt-
Each wave shape denotes a different frequency with age is reduced to a low level when compared with that
no mutual influence when at same temperature. of capacitorC, which is charged to a high voltage.
Description of an overvoltage protector using non- As a result, SCR is turned off by the discharge
linear negative resistance. current i of the capacitor passing through trigger
diode D and the sample. Thus load R L can be released
from its voltage.

CONCLUSIONS

We have proposed the application of the multi-

ability temperature-sensitive magnetic semicinductoras
a thermistor, a bidirectional diode to a temperature-
sensitive magnetic cores, as a temperature measuring
instrument, a temperature-frequency inverter and an
overvoltage protector.

REFERENCES

[I] K. Seki , J. Shida, H. Matsuki and K. Murakami : IEEE

Fig. 9 Characteristics of temperature-frequency Trans. Magn., Vol.MAG-18, No.6, pp.1478-1480, Nova 1982
[2] J. Smit andH. P. J. Wijin:Ferrites,p.233, Philips'
inverters.
Tech. Lib., Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 1965