Abstract
Giant magneto-resistive (GMR) elements are applied to several industrial magnetic sensors. This paper deals with the directional sensitivity of GMR elements, and their industrial applications. The use of GMR element has several advantages for other sensors. In the area of data storage, GMR elements are generally used to detect the magnetic field impressed in the direction of the stripe width. However, the GMR element has high sensitivity in the direction of the length as well as the width, even if it is a stripe shape. In addition, we obtain an omnidirectional sensitivity of GMR elements. Using the GMR element, we developed a GMR line sensor. This sensor visualized a magnetic field by only a single scan.