Learn how Weigand-based energy harvesting can be used to power low-power wireless IoT devices.
While the “Wiegand effect” has been used successfully in a variety of specialized applications, its full potential for energy harvesting and signal generation has received only limited recognition.
With recent enhancements to the energy output from Wiegand devices and the emergence of a new generation of ultra-efficient electronic chips for wireless communications, the technology is showing significant promise, especially in the realm of the Internet of Things (IoT). UBITO, a member of the FRABA Group of technology companies, is leading research and development projects aimed at fulfilling this promise.
The Wiegand effect is a physical phenomenon discovered in the 1970s by John Wiegand, an American inventor who developed a process for altering the magnetic properties of ferromagnetic wire. When a sample of “Wiegand wire” is exposed to a reversing external magnetic field, it will initially retain its original magnetic state.
However, when the strength of the external field reaches a critical threshold, a magnetically soft region of the wire will undergo an abrupt reversal of its polarity. This transition takes place within a few microseconds and can be harnessed to induce a pulse of electric current in a fine copper coil wrapped around the wire.
The electric pulse generated by a Wiegand wire is very brief, but its strength stays nearly constant, regardless of how quickly or slowly the external magnetic field changes. This is what makes the Wiegand effect special: With a Wiegand wire, the amount of electrical energy generated with each reversal of the magnetic field remains consistent over a wide range of speeds.
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