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 Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter

J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002 (22pp) https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/abf7e2

Topical Review

Frontiers of graphene-based Hall-effect

sensors
David Collomb ∗ , Penglei Li and Simon Bending
Department of Physics, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom

E-mail: d.collomb@bath.ac.uk

Received 22 January 2021, revised 24 March 2021

Accepted for publication 14 April 2021
Published 18 May 2021

Abstract
Hall sensors have become one of the most used magnetic sensors in recent decades,
performing the vital function of providing a magnetic sense that is naturally absent in humans.
Various electronic applications have evolved from circuit-integrated Hall sensors due to their
low cost, simple linear magnetic field response, ability to operate in a large magnetic field
range, high magnetic sensitivity and low electronic noise, in addition to many other
advantages. Recent developments in the fabrication and performance of graphene Hall devices
promise to open up the realm of Hall sensor applications by not only widening the horizon of
current uses through performance improvements, but also driving Hall sensor electronics into
entirely new areas. In this review paper we describe the evolution from the traditional selection
of Hall device materials to graphene Hall devices, and explore the various applications enabled
by them. This includes a summary of the selection of materials and architectures for
contemporary micro-to nanoscale Hall sensors. We then turn our attention to introducing
graphene and its remarkable physical properties and explore how this impacts the magnetic
sensitivity and electronic noise of graphene-based Hall sensors. We summarise the current
state-of-the art of research into graphene Hall probes, demonstrating their record-breaking
performance. Building on this, we explore the various new application areas graphene Hall
sensors are pioneering such as magnetic imaging and non-destructive testing. Finally, we look
at recent encouraging results showing that graphene Hall sensors have plenty of room to
improve, before then discussing future prospects for industry-level scalable fabrication.
Keywords: Hall effect, magnetism, imaging, nanotechnology, sensing, graphene
(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

1. Introduction
Edwin Robert Hall first discovered the Hall effect in 1879 after
pondering upon the implications of Maxwell’s works and was
curious as to what the effect a magnet field may have on a flow-
ing current [1]. After first testing the effect on a flat spiral of sil-
∗
Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.
Original content from this work may be used under the terms
of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further
distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title
of the work, journal citation and DOI.
ver and concluding there was no effect, Hall postulated that if
electricity were to be an incompressible fluid, the current may
instead be deflected, and pressed to one side of a current car-
rying wire. Testing for this potential difference in a gold leaf,
Hall discovered a change in relative potential, thus discovering
the effect now known as the Hall effect. Since its discovery the
Hall effect has become a well known phenomenon which both
metals and semiconductors exhibit. This has spawned count-
less Hall effect-based devices which have found themselves
in a plethora of key industrial, day-to-day and other essen-
tial applications [2]. The boom in implementation has pushed

1361-648X/21/243002+22$33.00 1 © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
Figure 1. Number of publications per year obtained from a Web of
science key word search for ‘Hall sensor’, ‘Hall probe’ and ‘Hall
effect’.
the Hall effect beyond the classical effect first discovered by
Hall. This Hall effect family is today quite large including
(but not limited to); the spin Hall effect, the anomalous Hall
effect, the planar Hall effect, the integer and fractional quan-
tum Hall effect (QHE) and quantum spin Hall effect. The spin
Hall effect is an analogous effect but instead of charges of
opposite sign accumulating at the sides of the current-carrying
sample, spin accumulates. Additionally, no magnetic field is
needed for the spin Hall effect as it is a purely spin-based
phenomenon. The anomalous Hall effect occurs in ferromag-
netic materials where the Hall resistivity holds an additional
contribution that depends on the material’s magnetisation.
The effect arises as a consequence of spin–orbit interactions
and these materials also exhibit a Hall effect in the absence
of a magnetic field. The quantum anomalous Hall effect is
the quantum counterpart whereby the Hall resistance acquires
quantised values, as will be described in section 2.2 for the
QHE. Similarly, the quantum spin Hall effect is the quantum
counterpart of the spin Hall effect where the spin-Hall conduc-
tance takes quantised values and has a vanishing Hall conduc-
tance. The discovery of these sister effects of the ordinary Hall
effect is no surprize given the huge and growing market Hall
effect devices hold, expected to grow to a staggering 1.5 bil-
lion USD by 2023 according to MarketsAndMarkets [3]. Like-
wise, the Hall effect family and its sensors continue to attract
great attention in the research community. Figure 1, which
was derived from a web of science key word search, reveals a
continued growing interest in the development and application
of Hall sensors.
As will be explored in this review, even classical Hall effect
sensors have a huge array of applications, and depending on
the scale of the Hall probes, the selection of materials to fab-
ricate Hall probes is almost limitless thanks to decades of
industrial and academic research and development [2]. Consid-
ering Moore’s law and following the trend in miniaturisation
of electronic devices as seen in consumer electronics, manu-
facturing, research on nanoscale phenomena, and healthcare,
the Frontier of Hall probes lies in the continued miniaturisa-
tion of sensors to the micro- and nanoscale. Hence this review
2
Topical Review
will focus on the applications and performance for probes on
this scale, rather than the well covered macroscale [4]. Due to
its unique properties, as will be discussed later, graphene Hall
sensors perform excellently in the submicron scales. In prac-
tice, graphene Hall probe development is particularly targeted
at the micro- and nanoscales.
In this review we describe the classical Hall effect, includ-
ing its quantum counterpart (the integer QHE), and briefly
cover a few of its common and more unique macroscale and
microscale applications. We then outline the various mate-
rials one can select from to fabricate high sensitivity Hall
probe devices. Having set the scene we will describe graphene
and its properties geared towards the realisation of Hall sen-
sors. We summarise the performance of various graphene Hall
probe architectures, from epitaxially grown graphene to fully
encapsulated devices in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) that
have been developed since the material’s isolation in 2004
[5]. Reflecting upon the performance and benefits of graphene-
based Hall devices, we then suggest and describe five promis-
ing areas where such devices could find routine use, including
high resolution magnetic imaging under ambient conditions
and non-destructive testing (NDT) in industrial processes. This
review then concludes by giving a perspective on future trends.
Recent developments in the field of graphene and beyond
are extrapolated to suggest key directions of movement for
graphene-based Hall probes in order to improve their perfor-
mance and production viability. In this way they can become
routinely used in more conventional Hall probe applications,
as well as in the entirely new suggested avenues.
2. The Hall effect
2.1. The classical Hall effect
Hall’s initial experiments revealed that in the presence of an
external magnetic field acting perpendicular and out-of-plane
to the electric current flowing in a slab-like sample, charge car-
riers are deflected to one side of the conductor, building up a
transverse potential difference. This effect is shown in figure 2
where charge carriers are curved due to the Lorentz force, F L ,
acting upon them. The subsequent charge imbalance between
the two sides of the conductor results in an electric field whose
force, F E , balances the Lorentz force under steady state condi-
tions such that F = F L + F E = 0. With the electric and magnetic
fields perpendicular to each other and rewriting the forces in
terms of these fields, this dynamic equilibrium may be written
as
EH = −νB, (1)
where ν is the carrier drift velocity, EH is the Hall electric field
and B is the magnetic field. When a current, I H , flows along
the length of the conductor, this can be rewritten as
IH B
VH = , (2)
ntq
where n is the carrier density, t is the slab thickness and q is the
electric charge. In the case of 2D materials such as graphene,
t can be suppressed and n expressed as the 2D carrier density,
n2D ≡ nt.
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
Figure 2. An illustration of the Hall effect in a finite slab sample
showing the electric and Lorentz forces (F E and F L respectively)
acting on the charge carriers (shown here for electrons) in a
perpendicular magnetic field, B. The Hall voltage, V H , is measured
perpendicular to the applied Hall current, I H . The slab has
dimensions of thickness, t, width, w, and length, L.
The Hall resistance, also known as the Hall coefficient or
magnetic sensitivity, can then be defined as
VH t 1
RH = =− . (3)
IB n2D e
The Hall coefficient may be determined by sweeping a known
magnetic field and measuring the Hall voltage. This is straight-
forward when dealing with a metal, however for a semiconduc-
tor, contributions to the Hall coefficient can come from both
hole and electron carriers. In this case the Hall coefficient can
be written as
nh μ2h − ne μ2e
RH = , (4)
e(nh μh + ne μe )2
where μh and μe are the hole and electron mobilities and nh and
ne are the hole and electron densities respectively. Hall probes
are often patterned in the form of a Greek cross, as shown in
figure 3. The centre of the cross where the current and voltage
leads intersect is known as the active area and determines the
spatial resolution of a Hall sensor. This is usually estimated as
the wire width, w, when assuming a perfect cross geometry.
When the Hall probe is used as a sensor, the ultimate reso-
lution—the minimum detectable field, Bmin —is governed by
the signal to noise ratio (SNR). Bmin is therefore given by the
electronic noise, V n , divided by the sensitivity,
Vn
Bmin = . (5)
IH RH
The Hall effect is also widely used as a method of accurately
determining the carrier mobility in metal or semiconductor
materials. This is typically done in a Hall bar configuration,
consisting of at least two conjoined Greek crosses, such as
the graphene ones shown in figure 4 [6]. By measuring the
Hall coefficient and the longitudinal resistances, and know-
ing the dimensions of the Hall bar, the mobility can accurately
be estimated from the one band relationship for the electrical
conductivity,
μ the Fermi energy level is located at the peak of the Fermi level
σ= . (6)
RH
3
Topical Review
Figure 3. Schematic of a Hall probe in its typical shape of a Greek
cross. The Hall current is denoted by I H and applied along one arm,
while the Hall voltage denoted by V H is measured across the
perpendicular arm when a magnetic field, B, is applied
perpendicular to the cross.
Figure 4. Optical image of a graphene Hall bar structure passivated
by HSQ in (b) and without in (a). Reprinted from [6], Copyright
(2019), with permission from Elsevier.
2.2. The quantum Hall effect (QHE)
Roughly 100 years later in 1980 the quantised counterpart to
the classical Hall effect was discovered by Klaus von Klitzing
at the Grenoble high magnetic field laboratory [7]. At low tem-
peratures, the Hall voltage as a function of magnetic field in a
two dimensional electron gas follows a staircase sequence, as
opposed to the monotonic increase, as shown in figure 5. These
plateaus occur at precise conductance values corresponding to
ie2 /h, where i in this case is the integer number characterising
that plateau. The Hall coefficient in this case exhibits steps of
h/e2 i and the centre of the plateaus takes B = Ф0 n/i, where Ф0
= h/e is the flux quantum. This effect is explained by the quan-
tisation of the electron orbits in two dimensions. These orbits
correspond to the Landau levels having discrete energy values
defined as
h
En = ωc (i + 1/2), (7)
2π
where ω c = eB/m is the cyclotron frequency and m is the
carrier mass. When i is an integer, the Fermi energy lies
in between Landau levels where carriers’ states are fully
localised. This results in the longitudinal conductivity drop-
ping to zero between Hall plateaus. At half-integer values of i,
density distribution resulting in a longitudinal resistivity spike.
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
Figure 5. Sketch of the quantum Hall effect, showing a plot of Hall
resistivity, ρxy , as a function of magnetic field; the quantum Hall
plateaus occur at h/e2 i.
These peaks increase in height as the field increases due to an
increase in the density of states.
Thanks to the quantised nature of the Hall resistance, QHE
has important implications in the development of a modern
standard for the Ohm from an effect that is independent of
microscopic properties of the material. With further mastery
of fabricated devices, the dissipationless transport of elec-
trons at the edges of the sample could become an analogue of
superconducting wires. However, in most cases, QHE requires
impractically low temperatures and high external magnetic
fields. As a result, these applications remain very much a work
in progress.
2.3. Current Hall sensor applications and directions
Macroscale applications of Hall probes are widespread in
many aspects of everyday modern life. These typically have
wire widths of a few millimetres to a few hundred microme-
tres, with some going down to a few tens of μm. Examples of
these applications include electrical compasses, gyrators, lin-
ear magnetic field sensors, vane sensors, speed sensors, posi-
tion sensors and Hall effect thrusters, just to name a few [8].
Many of these uses and examples are very well covered by the
various reviews that have appeared over the decades since their
rapid adoption [4, 9–11].
Exemplar macroscale position sensors include: gear tooth
sensing [12], shaft rotation angle sensing in automotive and
aeronautics [13], brushless direct current (dc) motor posi-
tion and speed control in energy and automation [14], linear
motor position sensors in office-based equipment (printers,
fax machines etc) [15], consumer electronics, e.g. detection of
closed flip-covers and tilt sensing [16]. Such position sensors
can also be extended for use as speed sensors [4]. Some pres-
sure sensors for pumps, diaphragms and pistons also utilise the
Hall effect [17]. Simple magnetic field magnetometers, such
as handheld Hall sensors shown in figure 6, are also used for
example to quantify and map fields generated from electro-
magnets and permanent magnets. Other examples of domains
where the Hall effect is used include: fluid level sensors [18],
flow rate sensors [19], current sensing [20], monitoring magnet
performance in high temperature conditions [21], and revolu-
tions per minute sensors [2]. With these applications in mind
4
Topical Review
Figure 6. Image of a laboratory handheld Hall probe highlighted by
the red rectangle on the end of a millimetre thin plastic arm for
versatile macroscale magnetometry. These are often used to
calibrate electromagnets, such as the one in the image, and quantify
field strengths of permanent magnets.
various commercial Hall probes are available from major man-
ufacturers such as: Honeywell, Toshiba, Infineon, Lakeshore,
Bunting, Senis and Attocube, just to name a few from the
extensive list.
Despite the routine use of these probes in the previously
mentioned applications, some of these have room for improve-
ment. For example, in current sensing where smaller currents
need higher field sensitivities, and greater sensitivity mag-
netometers, e.g. for higher resolution large scale mapping
for geological applications [22]. Hall probe development for
micro- and nanoscale applications has recently been the hot
new area for smart nanoscale devices and domains. This is at
least in part driven by the rise of graphene and other 2D mate-
rials alongside the expansion of the internet of things (IoT),
in which miniaturised low power magnetic sensing forms
an important component [23]. Hall probes playing a role in
the IoT include proximity and position sensing, e.g. in the
case of monitoring fridge occupancy which could trigger a
‘power on’ function or ‘sleep’ mode in another appliance in
the building, for example a coffee machine as the milk bottle is
removed from its fridge position. An important consideration
for IoT applications, where sensors may be battery powered
and embedded in a consumable item’s protective packaging,
is its power consumption [24]. Thus, Hall sensors with high
sensitivities and drive currents down at low as the nA scale are
hugely beneficial where IoT adjoined devices become more
mobile.
Micro- and nanoscale applications of Hall sensors have
also found applications in the biochemical sciences due to
the demand to detect and track micrometre and nanometre-
scale biological or physical features via magnetic labelling.
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
Figure 7. Optical micrograph of a 4.5 μm wire width InSb
micro-Hall sensor with 2, 2.8 μm superparamagnetic beads on the
active area of the cross. Reproduced from [28]. © IOP Publishing
Ltd. All rights reserved.
One such biochemical application relates to the detection of
magnetic bio beads that are chemically coated onto a selected
target, for example certain cells, bacteria, viruses and nucleic
acids [25–28]. A linear nanoscale Hall array can be fabri-
cated and scanned across a chemical ensemble, thus detect-
ing the microbeads. Such Hall arrays can be further integrated
into a fully-fledged lab-on-a-chip system for routine, real-time
characterisation of the microbead attachments in the sample
under study [9]. This same technique can also be applied
for the detection of naturally present nanoparticles, such as
magnetotactic bacteria [29, 30] (figure 7).
Some materials or structures may respond strongly to the
presence of a modulating external magnetic field. Hall probe
alternating current (ac) susceptometers have thus been devel-
oped and utilised to explore properties of micrometre-sized
objects which can otherwise not be probed through the use of
a stand-alone magnetometer [31–33]. This allows the dynam-
ical behaviour and nature of magnetic ordering in materials
such as superconductors and other spin systems to be studied.
Conventional ac susceptometers involve one coil that is used to
provide an alternating magnetic field, while another coil mea-
sures the induced electromotive force due to the change in the
magnetic moment of the sample under study. In the case of Hall
susceptometers, the Hall probe is teamed up with the primary
coil which performs its conventional role of providing an ac
field at a desired frequency. The Hall probe then picks up the
induced field from the sample, with the voltage response being
a combination of both induced and applied ac fields. This has
benefits over the conventional method described above as the
sensing signal is not affected by the frequency of excitation.
This technique is also useful from an industrial perspec-
tive. dc and ac susceptometry can be used for the detection
5
Topical Review
of magnetic materials in the human body such as in bio-
logical tissue, identification of undesired magnetic or non-
magnetic defects introduced in manufacturing or construction
processes and corrosion and crack inspection [34–37]. This
has brought Hall probe susceptometry to the growing field
of non-destructive testing—sometimes also known as non-
destructive evaluation—due to its ability to sense a magnetic
field without perturbing the existing structure, or requiring the
existing structure to be chemically or physically treated. Tools
such as Hall array strips have been developed and successfully
demonstrated for larger area testing for larger flaws in metal
structures (e.g. weld flaws or structural damage/failure and
mechanics), showing that Hall suceptometry finds a valuable
place in the NDT tool box [37].
Noting the trend towards high resolution mapping and
tracking, another application for micro- and nanoscale Hall
sensors is in local magnetic field mapping, e.g. in scanning
probe microscopy (SPM) [22, 41]. Atomic force microscopy
(AFM) and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) have both
revolutionised the physical and biological sciences. The high
spatial resolution of these techniques allows users to repeat-
edly study materials with ultimate resolution of a few nanome-
tres down to the atomic scale. The most routine application for
these techniques is to study topography, while there are also
variants such as magnetic force microscopy (MFM) for mag-
netic surface imaging. MFM uses the force between a mag-
netically coated AFM tip and a sample to build an image. In
practice a first ‘topographic’ scan is made with the tip in close
contact with the sample after which a second pass is made
with the tip raised about 10–100 nm above the height mea-
sured in the first scan. By raising the tip in this second pass,
the tip-sample forces are no longer dominated by the sample
topography, but instead by the interaction between the stray
field of the sample and the magnetic tip. Therefore, the image
produced is an accurate measure of the magnetic field distri-
bution. MFM has its shortcomings, including the presence of
a relatively invasive tip whose magnetic structure is not usu-
ally well characterised to the difficulty of analysing images
quantitatively [38]. This is where Hall probes, thanks to their
quantitative sensing and ability to pattern down to micro- and
nanometer scales, can come to their own in the technique of
scanning Hall probe microscopy (SHPM). Here, a Hall probe
can be integrated with AFM or STM technologies [39, 40]. For
example, a Hall sensor can be patterned in close proximity to a
co-planar gold STM tip patterned on the corner of a chip such
as the one in figure 8. The sensor chip is then positioned at a
∼1◦ tilt angle with respect to the sample plane such that the
tip is closest point to the sample. The chip is then brought into
close proximity with the sample surface with a piezoelectric
slip-stick coarse approach mechanism, using the tunnel cur-
rent in feedback loop. Once a threshold current is reached, the
approach is halted. Alternatively, a Hall probe can be fabri-
cated with a dielectric corner replacing the gold STM tip. This
can be fixed to the free arm of a quartz tuning fork while the
other arm is bonded to a ceramic holder, allowing operation in
non-contact AFM mode. Here the quartz tuning fork is driven
near its resonant frequency, typically at ∼30 kHz, with the sen-
sor again held at a 1◦ angle with respect to the sample. The
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002 Topical Review

Figure 9. Abrikosov vortex lattice in a BSSCO single crystal

obtained at 81 K via SHPM (Greyscale spans 250 μT). Reprinted by
permission from Springer Nature Customer Service Centre GmbH:
Nature [42].
Figure 8. A schematic diagram of a scanning Hall probe
microscope operating in STM tracking mode. The expanded view of
the scanner head shows the Hall cross and integrated STM tip on a will focus the inventory on Hall sensors of this scale. Although
microfabricated planar scanning Hall probe chip. most metal-based Hall sensors such as copper and gold are
extremely stable, their performance struggles to compare with
semiconductor-based sensors after miniaturisation [4]. While
sensor is then again approached with a slip-stick motor, using
there are some architectures that outperform others for the vari-
the shift in resonant frequency due to the tip-sample interaction
ous figures-of-merit (magnetic sensitivity, SNR, spatial resolu-
in a feedback loop.
tion and stability/versatility), choosing between them requires
These methods enable the Hall probe to be rastered across
the target application to be considered carefully. Addition-
a sample surface with high resolution, while at each pixel
ally, the stability of the magnetic sensitivity and Hall off-
sampling the measured magnetic field to produce a 2D mag-
set are important properties to consider for the routine use
netic image. SHPM has found a vast variety of uses, especially
of Hall sensors [51]. Other requirements then surface when
in scientific research where it has been used to study vortex
looking at the industrial-scale development of Hall sensors.
behaviour in unconventional superconductors such as BSSCO
Silicon has a significantly lower fabrication cost and a well-
in figure 9 [42]. Quantitative vortex images can be used to
developed mass processing technology and is already inte-
investigate the nature of superconductivity in a host of materi-
grated into most modern technological devices [9]. On the
als, such as to study the impact of magnetism on superconduc-
other hand, III–V based devices may provide better perfor-
tivity in hybrid-ferromagnetic superconductors for example in
mance but have higher fabrication costs and more challeng-
RbEuFe4 As4 [43], or the behaviour of nanostructured super-
ing growth/fabrication methods [4, 52]. In table 1 we present
conductors in lead and YBCO [44]. SHPM has also been
a selection of the available sensor technologies and compare
used to study ferromagnetic materials for applications such as
various performance parameters.
magnetic data storage devices, permalloy disks, the nature of
current flows in high temperature superconducting tapes and
magnetic domain structures [45–48]. SHPM is a good example 3. Graphene Hall-effect devices
of a Hall probe application requiring more stringent criteria for
the material selection. The demand to map nanoscale magnetic 3.1. Properties of graphene
features such as skyrmions or dense superconducting vortex
The selection presented in table 1 is impressive, with field res-
structures with sub-Gauss magnetic contrast requires the Hall
olutions reaching the nanoTesla range at room temperature,
sensor material to exhibit exceptional signal-to-noise ratios
even for sub-micron active areas. However, since the isola-
when the Hall probe active area is patterned to the nanoscale
tion of graphene from graphite, the material has been touted
[49, 50].
to replace many of the currently used materials in integrated
circuits and other sensing devices. This enthusiasm is driven
2.4. The current Hall sensor inventory
by some of the record-breaking electronic and mechanical
Industry and academia are certainly not deprived of choice properties of graphene in its single atomic layer form.
when it comes to picking from the vast array of possible Hall Graphene’s fame came about in particular from its very
probe structures [8]. Since the frontiers of graphene Hall probe impressive physical properties for such a ‘thin’ material.
applications are geared towards the micro- and nanoscale, we Graphene is a single carbon atom thick two dimensional

6
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002 Topical Review

Table 1. A compilation of the figures-of-merit of various Hall sensors at room

temperature. These include, where applicable, the Hall coefficient, RH , the drive
current, I H , the measurement frequency, f , the minimum detectable field, Bmin ,
the constituent material and wire width, X min .
√
Hall material RH (Ω T−1 ) I H (μA) f (kHz) Bmin (μT Hz) X min (μm)

Bi thin film [107] 4 40 1 80 0.05

Bi thin film [48] 3.3 800 NA 38 2.8
InSb thin film [28] 370 100 0.2 0.72 0.5
InSb thin film [141] 300 300 NA 0.08 1.25
InAs [142] 473 25 1 4 1
InGaAs [143] 893 100 1 3 1
GaAs/AlGaAs [105] 1100 100 0.277 1000 0.8
GaAs/AlGaAs [105] 1100 100 0.277 1 20
Si [105] 80 100 1 1 5
InAsSb [144] 2750 100 1 0.058 1

from the remaining electrons that occupy the pz orbitals. The

band structure was calculated by Wallace in 1947 [57]. Briefly
summarising these results; at the Brillouin zone boundaries the
bands are separated by a finite energy gap, whereas at the K and
K  points the bands touch in a cusp. This point is also known as
the Dirac point or charge neutrality point (CNP). At this point,
the energy dispersion is linear and defined as
 
E k = ±hν F k, (8)

where charge carriers behave like massless particles mov-

Figure 10. The lattice structure of graphene where A and B are the
non-equivalent sites forming a unit cell. The two lattice vectors, a1
and a2 define the rhombus-shaped unit cell. The lattice constant is
defined as a0 and equal to 0.246 nm.
material. In its perfect crystalline form all of these carbon
atoms are sp2 hybridised, having three in-plane σ-orbitals and
two out-of-plane π orbitals. Each carbon atom therefore forms
σ-bonds with each of its neighbours. The graphene lattice
structure is shown in figure 10, illustrating the rhombus-shaped
unit cell containing two carbon atoms (A and B) placed in
non-equivalent sites, and the lattice vectors a1 and a2 . The
bond energy of each of these C–C bonds is very high, being
roughly 4.93 eV [53]. This results in the impressive mechani-
cal properties of graphene, which are revealed through mea-
surements of the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of
130 GPa and 1 TPa respectively [54, 55]. Furthermore, devices
made from graphene are capable of operating to high tem-
peratures with minimal degradation [56]. This is unlike the
weaker van der Waals forces holding separate layers together
in graphite, when sequential layers can readily slide past each
other.
Graphene’s standout electronic properties are governed by
the aforementioned half-filled delocalised π bands formed
ing with the Fermi velocity, ν F , equal to ∼106 ms−1 . The
± relates to the conductance and valance bands respectively.
The existence of the CNP is a unique feature other semicon-
ductor materials do not have, where it can now be classed
as a zero-gap semiconductor. With this unique property,
graphene has been shown to exhibit the highest charge car-
rier mobilities of any material [58], whereby even relatively
defective chemical vapour deposition (CVD) grown graphene
exhibits mobilities up to 350 000 cm2 V−1 s−1 at 1.6 K
on a hBN substrate [59]. These incredibly high mobility
measurements in the best performing graphene devices pro-
vide a promising glimpse of the performance potential of
graphene Hall probes. One of the present day challenges
is to transfer these high mobilities into routinely fabricated
graphene-based devices such as Hall probes to fully tap into
the material’s potential. Another challenge will be to main-
tain this high mobility as the device size shrinks towards the
nanoscale.
Exfoliated, CVD and epitaxially grown graphene are the
most common sources for monolayer graphene. Hall probes in
the form of a greek cross are almost exclusively made by dry
etching the graphene in an O2 plasma [60, 61], while encap-
sulated devices are etched in a flourine-based gas/oxygen mix-
ture (usually either SF6 or CHF3 ) [58, 62, 63]. This involves the
use of a mask usually defined by lithography, with resists such
as hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) and poly(methyl methacry-
late) (PMMA) used to reliably attain nanoscale and deep sub-
micron devices [60]. Before or after Hall probe definition,
Ohmic contacts are formed to the Hall probe, usually com-
posed of gold with an intermediate adhesion layer, often
chrome, palladium or titanium [58, 60, 64]. Traditional top

7
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
contacts are formed by depositing Ohmic contacts directly on
top of an exposed segment of the graphene flake or sheet.
Encapsulated devices however no longer have an exposed
graphene surface to deposit onto, to remedy this the graphene
stack is first etched through with a flourine based reactive
plasma, and leads then patterned and deposited over the edges
of where contact is to be made [58]. This results in a one
dimensional edge contact, where the metal makes contact
along the exposed single atom thick edge of the graphene. Both
of these two contact methods are illustrated in figure 4, where
in figure 4(b) the metal contacts are seen to slightly overlap the
HSQ/graphene arm.
At first sight, graphene’s ability to exhibit extremely low
carrier densities should lead to exceptionally high magnetic
sensitivities, while its high mobility promises low electronic
noise. Furthermore, unlike typical semiconductor materials
used for Hall sensors, graphene’s mobility-carrier density
dependence shows an enhancement upon reducing n, thus
graphene can make the most of both low carrier density and
high mobility simultaneously [65]. In the following sections
we will explore the optimisation of the magnetic sensitivity
(the signal, RH ) and the electronic noise in graphene to see
how well graphene’s remarkable electronic properties can be
exploited in Hall sensors and what determines their ultimate
detection limits.
3.2. Magnetic sensitivity of graphene
The carrier density in graphene can be easily tuned by an adja-
cent top and/or back gate. This is most commonly achieved by
transferring a graphene flake onto a dielectric substrate such
as SiO2 or hBN [64, 66]. Local top gates make use of a dielec-
tric material deposited on top of the area of graphene to be
measured. Typical dielectric materials for this purpose include
Al2 O3 [67], hBN and even a vacuum in suspended samples
[66, 68]. Recalling equation (3) for the magnetic sensitivity,
RH can be maximised by using these gates to reduce the carrier
density.
However the optimisation of RH by tuning the carrier den-
sity is not entirely straightforward, since a Hall probe devel-
oper has to deal with asymmetries between the hole and
electron carrier regimes and two carrier transport, especially
around the CNP. This can affect the maximum achievable
value of RH . Acknowledging that the lowest carrier densi-
ties occur somewhere near the CNP, recent works have care-
fully explored the sensitivity limits of CVD graphene on SiO2
[69, 70]. Starting by writing the current related sensitivity
as defined by equation (4) and assuming that the mobilities
are symmetric, the gate-bias to carrier density relationship is
defined by
 in the carrier density. Additional contributions to this may
ntot = p + n ∼= n20 + n[V g ]2 , (9)
  Cox
n Vg = − (V g − V CNP ), (10)
e acterising the Hall coefficient. Fortunately, with the help of
where p and n are the densities of holes and electrons respec-
tively, n0 is the minimum carrier density at the CNP which is
the residual carrier density as a result of electron–hole pud-
8
Topical Review
dle disorder due to intrinsic and extrinsic doping, Cox is the
gate dielectric capacitance, V CNP is the gate bias at the CNP
and V g is the gate bias [69]. Hence the maximum obtainable
sensitivity in this model can be defined by
Smax
I = 1/2n0 e. (11)
This reveals that maximising the magnetic sensitivity is best
performed by reducing the minimum doping level, which can
be achieved by improving the quality of the graphene layer
through, e.g. reducing fabrication-induced surface contami-
nants, environmental contamination and crystalline defects.
However, the above equations do not consider the two-carrier
dependence of the mobility. Including this, Song et al have
shown that the Hall voltage linearity degrades as the carrier
density gets closer to the CNP, where the behaviour is strongly
influence by the two-carrier transport close to the CNP [70].
Song et al also reveal that the linearity error, α, increases with
increasing μ, which is also unfortunately what one requires to
decrease the noise level and Bmin . This presents an unavoid-
able dilemma whereby if one wants to maximise the magnetic
sensitivity, the increased deviation from linearity must be dealt
with. As a possible solution to this, it was discovered that the
asymmetry between the hole and electron mobilities can be
exploited to increase the maximum sensitivity and reduce lin-
earity error, as shown in figure 11. This arises because trans-
port becomes more single-carrier in nature. We note that the
case exemplified in figure 11 is for a device in high fields
of 2 T where linearity error becomes more evident. In Hall
probe applications at lower fields in the mT range, the linear-
ity error should be significantly lower and hence the balancing
act is less critical. Achieving a high asymmetry between holes
and electrons may also not be easy, especially for the case
of high mobility hBN-encapsulated devices where there is a
high intrinsic carrier homogeneity. Nevertheless this will no
doubt spur further research into Hall sensor development for
high field applications where the linearity error becomes more
crucial.
The magnetic sensitivity at low temperatures can also
improve drastically when using graphite-gated devices. These
have been shown to reduce the intrinsic charge inhomogene-
ity leading to low mobile carrier densities and resulting in
exceptionally large Hall coefficients [63]. With this, the Hall
coefficient of graphene can reach record levels-the first step to
realising high performance Hall sensors. Although the mag-
netic sensitives in graphene can reach exceptional levels, the
stability of the sensitivity (and by extension the Hall off-
set) represents an additional challenge [71]. For example,
gating the device can add further instabilities due to charge
hopping from the dielectric material leading to fluctuations
also come from adsorbates from fabrication processes or the
ambient environment. Hence a graphene-based Hall probe
manufacturer also needs to minimise hysteresis when char-
hBN encapsulation, this issue can be solved in a good man-
ner by protecting the graphene channel during fabrication and
measurement.
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
Figure 11. The modelled absolute current-related sensitivity (a) and
maximum linearity error (b) for different minimum carrier densities.
(c) The highest attainable constant current-driven sensitivity (peak
value) at each n0 value in (a). Modelled SI (d) and αmax (e) for
symmetrical hole and electron mobilities. The modelled SI (f) and
αmax (g) for unequal electron and hole mobilities. In (d) to (g) n0 =
1 × 1011 cm−2 and B = 2 T. The symbols in (d) to (g) show the
maximum sensitivities when αmax = 10% is set as constraint.
Reproduced from [70]. CC BY 4.0.
3.3. Electronic noise in graphene
Electronic noise can limit the signal-to-noise ratio of electronic
sensors. With Hall sensors this is very much the case and is
reflected in the equation for the minimum detectable field as
expressed by the electronic noise divided by the Hall coeffi-
cient multiplied by the Hall current (the signal). It is therefore
desirable to reduce the electronic noise in the sensor. To do this
we should first explore what types of electronic noise is present
in graphene, and what their sources are. To identify the source
of noise, an electronic signal can be broken down as a func-
tion of frequency. In graphene this typically reveals two noise
regimes, a high frequency, frequency-independent thermal-
noise regime and a low frequency 1/f dependent noise regime,
where both are separated by a noise-corner. This behaviour is
illustrated in figure 12 where the noise power, SQ , is sketched
as a function of frequency on a logarithmic plot. We note
that the noise corner is not an abrupt change between the two
regimes, but is always instead a smooth transition.
Thermal noise (also known as Johnson–Nyquist noise) is
inherent in all electronic materials caused by the thermal agita-
tion of charge carriers in the electrical conductor. The spectral
power per unit bandwidth of this noise at the Hall voltage leads
is defined as
SJQ = 4Rvv kB T, (12)
where Rvv is the resistance between Hall voltage contacts, T
is the temperature of the device and kB is the Boltzmann con-
stant. In the thermal noise limit the resistance of the graphene
device has a clear impact on the noise level, and hence the
signal-to-noise ratio. Taking equation (5) for the minimum
9
Topical Review
Figure 12. A sketch of the noise power in graphene electronic
devices represented by the solid line. The horizontal dashed line
represents the frequency independent thermal noise, while the
dashed-dotted line represents the frequency dependent 1/f noise.
detectable field and substituting the standard expression for the
resistivity (ρxx = 1/neμ = Rxx w/l) and RH (cf equation (3)), Bmin
in the thermal noise regime is defined as
 
J 1 n 4lekB TΔf
Bmin = , (13)
IH μ w
where the wire width and channel length of the Hall voltage
leads is defined by w and l. The mobility in graphene usu-
ally depends implicitly on the carrier density n [72, 73]. By
assuming μ ∼ 1/nη , Bmin in the thermal noise limit can be
approximated by
η
n( 2 +0.5)
BJmin α . (14)
IH
The parameter, η, is an exponent describing the relationship
between the mobility and carrier density and is dependent on
the nature of the dominant source of scattering in the graphene
devices. This can be extracted by fitting the relationship
μ ∼ 1/nη to the mobility plotted as a function of carrier density
for the device under investigation. η, typically takes values of
around ∼0.6 when scattering is dominated by neutral impu-
rities [73]. Thus we can see that in the thermal noise regime,
graphene Hall probes benefit from an increased mobility (often
reflected by relatively low resistances), and an increasing Hall
current.
On the other side of the noise corner, the device enters the
1/f frequency-dependent noise regime. Unlike thermal noise,
the origin of 1/f noise is still not fully understood and will
doubtless be the basis of future reviews focussing on differ-
ent possible sources [74]. The origin of the noise can gener-
ally be split into two types, fluctuations in carrier density due
to charge trapping and re-release, and fluctuations in carrier
mobility caused by variations in the scattering cross sections
of scattering centres [75]. Since graphene is a single atomic
layer material, the conduction electrons are directly exposed
to charge traps on or below its surface which cause strong
carrier-number fluctuations. This could come from traps in the
substrate, or charged impurities arising from flake transfer or
nanofabrication procedures. Additionally, charged scattering
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002 Topical Review

Table 2. A compilation of the figures-of-merit of various graphene Hall sensors at room temperature in literature. These include, where
applicable, the Hall coefficient, RH , the drive current, I H , the measurement frequency, f , the minimum detectable field, Bmin , the
constituent material (passivation), substrate and wire width, X min .
√
Graphene source Substrate RH (Ω T−1 ) I H (μA) f (kHz) Bmin (μT Hz−1 ) X min (μm)

Exfoliated [63] Exfoliated hBN—encapsulated ∼8000 20 1 0.7 1

CVD [137] CVD hBN—encapsulated 97 90 1 400 50
Exfoliated [62] Exfoliated hBN—encapsulated 4100 NA 3 0.05 3
CVD [145] CVD hBN 1447 500 0.3 0.05 50
CVD [99] PMMA 121 53 NA NA 200
CVD [99] Exfoliated hBN—encapsulated 2270 30 NA NA 12
CVD (hBN passivated) [64] SiO2 345 15 NA NA NA
CVD [61] SiO2 1800 3 20 1 0.5
CVD [60] SiO2 140 12 0.531 59 0.085
CVD [98] Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) 437 100 NA NA 30
Epitaxial [108] Silicon carbide 640 10 3.3 49.3 0.5
Epitaxial (silicone passivated) [146] Silicon carbide 83 5 10 0.03 500
CVD [147] SiO2 2093 200 3 0.1 50
CVD [67] Polyimide (PI) 2580 NA 2 0.29 100

centres in the substrate, adsorbates on top on the graphene sur-
face or the morphology of the flake itself can lead to mobility
fluctuations.
Hooge’s empirical noise relationship has been the preferred
model when investigating 1/f noise in graphene [75], which is
described by [76]
I 2 αH
SHQ = , (15)
Nf
where N is the number of charge carriers and αH is the Hooge
parameter. The number of free carriers in the case of graphene
may simply be approximated as the contact free area multi-
plied by the carrier density. Because there is not a single noise
mechanism at play in graphene, the Hooge parameter is often
used as a figure-of-merit for 1/f noise in graphene devices. It
should be noted that these models are designed to deal with
longitudinal low frequency noise. On the other hand, the Hall
voltage is measured perpendicular to the drive current, which
desires a transverse low frequency noise model. This issue has
been tackled by Vandamme et al where they developed a con-
ductivity fluctuation model for transverse low frequency noise
power given by
1/f I 2 ρ2 α
SQ = H xx , (16)
AFf n
where α is a dimensionless constant expected to be on the
order of 10−3, A is the contact free surface area (the area of the
graphene Hall cross) and F is a geometric factor, which in the
case of a Hall cross with aspect ratio 5:1 is ∼1 [77]. Returning
to the expression for Bmin and making the same substitutions
for resistivity and the same approximation for the mobility, the
minimum detectable field in the 1/f regime can be given as
1/f n(η−0.5)
Bmin α √ .
f Indeed, recent work confirms this with a notable effect in larger
This results in the magnetic field resolution for graphene in the
1/f noise regime remaining dependent on mobility, but also
being affected by the measurement frequency. Recalling the
fact that the transition between thermal noise and 1/f is smooth
rather than abrupt, it is likely that the noise, and Bmin within
a given frequency range will be bounded by the two limits,
defined by equations (14) and (17).
3.4. Graphene Hall sensor performance
Graphene-based Hall sensors have been extensively studied
and their performance has been drastically improved through
optimisation of transfer methods between substrates, passi-
vating the active area and through changing to more suitable
substrates for low noise electronics—e.g. hBN. In table 2 we
summarise numerous graphene Hall probes from a variety
of sources (CVD, exfoliated or epitaxial), different substrates
and passivations/encapsulation (e.g. hBN or foil), device sizes
defined by wire widths, and under various measurement con-
ditions such as frequency and Hall current. It should be noted
that table 2 consists of both some of the best performing Hall
sensors and mean values of a batch of Hall sensors. Therefore
these should not be taken as performances which can be rou-
tinely reproduced but rather as an indication of what graphene-
based Hall probe designs have the potential to deliver under the
best conditions.
A clear trend can be seen whereby the magnetic resolution
starts to degrade in smaller devices, probably as a result of
the increasing effect rough edges have on low frequency noise
due to the associated increased scattering and charge trapping
[60, 78]. Naturally, a higher measurement frequency will
always result in a greater resolution due to the 1/f relationship
of low frequency noise. Increasing the drive current appears
to lead to a trend of decreasing minimum detectable fields.
This has been observed in other Hall device materials with an
inverse relationship between current and minimum detectable
field up to a threshold value before the trend reverses [79].
(17)
devices as the 1/f noise frequency corners shifts due to car-
rier heating, leading to much higher trapping rates with the
limit being at the point where RH starts to drop as the mobile
carrier density increases [60, 63]. Another key trend that can
be identified is the effect of the choice of substrate. It is clear

10
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
Figure 13. The estimated minimum detectable fields of wet
transferred CVD graphene Hall probes as a function of carrier
density for a 400 nm wire width Hall probe with a 2 μA Hall current
at 531 Hz measurement frequency. The dashed line indicates the
estimated carrier density dependence deduced using the
experimental field effect mobility. Reproduced from [60].
CC BY 4.0.
that encapsulating in exfoliated hBN flakes enhances perfor-
mance significantly. The reason for this is still under debate,
although it is likely to arise from contributions from several
sources. These include: hBN’s smooth surfaces [80], mini-
mal defect densities [75], the spatial separation from charge
traps in the substrate oxide and protection from environmental
and fabrication process contaminants leading to a reduction in
the formation of electron–hole ‘puddles’ near the Dirac point
[81, 82]. The study into the effect of the carrier density on
1/f noise in graphene Hall probes has been limited. Recent
work showing a Λ-shaped dependence of noise on n follows
a Vandamme-like relationship for Bmin (14) [60]. As can be
seen in the equation and the results in figure 13, the mobility
dependence on carrier density also results in a carrier density
dependence of the minimum detectable field [60].
It should be mentioned that a significant challenge arises
when Hall effect devices are in several Tesla background
fields due to the QHE. Here, the QHE results in a con-
stant Hall voltage near the quantised plateaus even though
the magnetic field may be changing. Likewise, changing the
carrier density may also cause no change in the Hall volt-
age under these condictions. This was recently remedied by
Schaefer et al by using electrostatic gating to tune the car-
rier density to a level that allows the Hall voltage to change
as a function of magnetic field, as seen in figure 14(a)
[63]. Despite increased low frequency noise, possibly due to
charge fluctuations between localised and extended quantum
Hall states, Bmin remains competitive at ∼3 μT √Hz−1 , as
shown in figure 14.
Graphene’s large Hall coefficient, high mobility and low
1/f noise leads it to having high minimum detectable fields,
even without the more suitable hBN as substrate. This
performance is also maintained across a large field range of
several Teslas. In addition, graphene’s mechanical properties
11
Topical Review
Figure 14. (a) The magnetic field dependence of V H /I in the
quantum Hall regime at 4.2 K for a 1 μm wire width
hBN-encapsulated monolayer graphene device. (b) The Hall
coefficient and minimum detectable fields (S1/2 B ) at 1 kHz, 3 T and
5 μA Hall current showing the lack of detectability at the plateaus.
Reproduced from [63]. CC BY 4.0.
enable great versatility for nano-/microscale processing, as
well as its ability to endure stresses and strains in flexible
device applications, make it an ideal candidate material for
Hall sensors of the future.
4. Unlocking graphene Hall sensor applications
4.1. QHE: the new standard setter
One of the most promising applications for graphene Hall sen-
sor is as an improved standard setter. This is not only related to
being a reproducible electrical resistance standard, but because
of the fact that the Hall resistance can be described uniquely
in terms of h and e. As of 2019 this has allowed the Interna-
tional System of units (SI) to link its units (e.g. the kg) to the
fundamental constants of nature. The question is, if QHE can
be observed in GaAs/AlGaAs devices, why should one also
attempt to observe this in graphene? The key issue with QHE
devices is the requirement to measure the quantised Hall resis-
tance within a relative uncertainty of 1 part in 109 [83]. High
accuracy measurements are classically obtained from the very
broad i = 2 level. In a typical GaAs/AlGaAs device this will
only reveal itself at extremely low temperatures of ∼1.3 K
(requiring a dilution fridge), 40 μA drive currents requiring
SQUID cryogenic amplifiers, and high fields of ∼10 T [84].
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002 Topical Review

Thus the goal is to find a new material to base the resis-

tance standard under more convenient and significantly less
costly conditions, while remaining highly accurate. This at first
sight may seem unimportant, however an easily disseminated
Ohm standard towards industrial users through a turnkey com-
mercial QHE device would provide accurate characterisation
of electronic components to the Ohm without the expensive
running costs [85]. This is especially important in the ever-
increasing demands on the performance of communication,
sensors and other electronic devices.
Low fields required at higher temperatures and currents
than GaAs should be attainable, stemming from the large
energy spacing between the first two degenerate Landau levels,
given by [83]
√
36 B meV
ΔEG (B) = √ . (18)
T
This exceptionally allows the QHE to be observed at room
temperature in graphene, albeit at very high fields [86]. This is
still a tough challenge as B, I H and T compete for optimisation.
Furthermore, high mobilities and carrier density homogeneity
below 2 × 1011 cm−2 are required for high accuracy at low
fields. Fortunately, highly accurate Hall measurement QHE
devices of graphene have been fabricated under much more
favourable conditions than their GaAs based counterparts
[83, 87, 88]. These graphene-on-SiC devices have shown giant
i = 2 levels over a wide range of magnetic flux densities (e.g.
from 2.5 T to 14 T at 1.3 K) with resistance quantisation across
the sample, unaffected by carrier density inhomogeneity. In
these samples, RH was calculated to an accuracy of 1 part Figure 15. (a) The critical temperature below which the relative
deviation in graphene’s Hall coefficient, RH–G , is 1 part in 109
in 109 with a lower field at temperatures as high as 10 K or
(open symbols) and/or when Rxx  30 μΩ (closed symbols) as a
with currents as high as 0.5 mA. This was also twinned with function of B. I H is represented by a blue colour scale and the blue
Rxx measurements in the μΩ range, showing low dissipation. area is defined by the field and temperature conditions giving rise to
Likewise, at 5 K (above liquid Helium temperature), the field 1 part in 109 accuracy. (b) Critical current below which Rxx  30 μΩ
required is 5 T with a current of 50 μA. The range of operation corresponding to a relative deviation of 1 part in 109 as a function
of B deduced from Rzz measurements. The temperature is
across the three parameters (B, I H and T) were well mapped
represented by a green colour scale, where the coloured area is
by Ribeiro-Palau et al, as shown in figure 15 where the critical defined by the field and current conditions ensuring an accuracy of 1
current, I c , and temperature, T c , for a minimum accuracy of 1 part in 109 at the respective temperature. Reprinted by permission
part in 109 as a function of field is plotted [83]. from Springer Nature Customer Service Centre GmbH: Nature [83]
With further improvements in graphene growth and device (2015).
fabrication; a reduction of topological defects and inhomoge-
neous strain, as well as the realisation of large area contin-
Graphene stands out as a perfect candidate to drive for-
uous monolayers with highly homogenous carrier densities,
ward wearable electronics thanks to its high electrical and
should result in a much greater relaxation for the measurement
conditions of QHE standards [89]. mechanical stability and carrier mobility. Flexible graphene-
based devices, especially human-worn sensors, have success-
fully been developed. Examples of these include; glucose
4.2. Flexible Hall sensors: can we wear sensors?
sensors [91], point-of-care [92], the IoT [93], strain sensors
The range of available technology for personal consumption [94], thermoelectrochromic devices [95], gas sensors [96] and
has grown significantly over the past decade, and has reached pH sensors [97]. The development of flexible graphene-based
the point where blending electronics with the human body Hall sensors have also met with excellent success [98–100].
is no longer a scientific fantasy, but a soon to be met real- Wang et al fabricated micrometer-scale CVD graphene devices
ity [90]. In this respect, wearable and flexible electronics is on foil encapsulated in both hBN and PMMA, both of which
expected to play a major role. The IoT described earlier is a maintain exceptional intrinsic Hall coefficients, however per-
perfect example of what may drive the continued growth of formance under an applied stress or strain was not investi-
this research area. Thus there is a growing demand to make the gated [99]. Wang et al and Uzlu et al have progressed this
transition in electronics from sensing electronics in particular, work further by creating microscale Hall probes on a poly-
towards flexible and bio-compatible structures. imide (PI) and a kapton/SU8 substrate [67, 101]. Graphene

12
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
Figure 16. (a) Optical micrograph of a flexible Hall probe ensemble
fabricated on PI. (b) The dependence of the voltage-driven magnetic
sensitivity, SV , as a function of the number of bending cycles for 3
devices with a constant back gate voltage of −1.2 V and drive
voltage of 300 mV. The PI substrate was bent with a radius of
6.4 mm. The inset shows the magnetic sensitivity before and after
different bending radii. Reproduced from [67]. CC BY 4.0.
Hall devices on PI, shown in figure 16, demonstrated sen-
sitivities up to ∼800 V AT−1 near the CNP when driven at
constant current, possibly indicating that the minimum car-
rier density, n0 , is relatively high. Nevertheless a Bmin of
√ olution still needs to be optimised for high resolution SHPM.
∼1 μT Hz−1 was achieved at 1 kHz, greatly outperform-
ing similar flexible probes based on bismuth [102]. Even after
1000 bending cycles of 6.4 mm bend radius, the graphene
Hall probes on PI retained excellent magnetic field sensitiv-
ities when driven at a constant voltage, as shown in figure 16.
This is to also having a top gate for added tunability of RH
and electronic noise, which remains functional after numerous
bending cycles. These results on high sensitivity Hall probes
should initiate new research on flexible graphene Hall probes.
Further research into the biocompatibility of graphene would
also greatly benefit the development of wearable graphene
Hall sensors. With this in mind, flexible graphene based Hall
sensors could easily target applications. For example, a wear-
able Hall sensor can be further integrated into the rapidly
developing area of IoT where the sensor could be used to
monitor time spent working on a computer by detecting
the field from a magnetic ‘tag’ integrated in a keyboard or
mouse. Additionally, this opens up Hall probes to be used as
wearable compasses for applications such as camping and
rambling in the wilderness or interaction with a virtual real-
ity environment, in similar manner to that demonstrated by
Bermudez et al [103].
4.3. Graphene Hall probe magnetic imaging and its
applications
As explored in section 2.3, Hall probes can be integrated with a
micro- or nanoscale surface tracking technique, such as AFM
and STM, to be able to perform both topographic and mag-
netic imaging of a sample surface [43]. The Hall probe struc-
ture of choice for many existing low temperature magnetic
imaging systems is the GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure two-
dimensional electron gases [104]. This is due to its outstanding
performance, combining nanoTesla field resolution with sub-
micron spatial resolution. However, major bottlenecks for this
13
Topical Review
material are the edge-wall depletion of carriers that typically
limits the minimum wirewidth and the poor room tempera-
ture minimum detectable fields, which progressively degrade
as the size is reduced [105]. Bismuth films have been explored
as an alternative to these probes, and high spatial resolutions
down to ∼50 nm have been achieved. However, the field
resolution of these devices are limited when operated under
ambient conditions [106, 107]. InSb has exceptional field
resolution, however the active layer is often buried at least
50 nm below the sensor surface, increasing the minimum dis-
tance between probe and the sample under study, putting a
limit on the minimum spatial resolution.
Graphene-based Hall probes show great promise for future
imaging applications under ambient conditions due to the
material’s fabrication versatility, the absence of edge deple-
tion effects and the tunability of the carrier density in order
to attain high magnetic sensitivities and high mobilities for
low electronic noise. As described in section 3.4, graphene
Hall probes have been extensively explored, with the best Bmin
recorded by encapsulated devices. Although graphene-based
Hall probes exhibit high values of RH and Bmin , the spatial res-
The size-dependence has been explored in epitaxial graphene
grown on SiC, which was patterned into devices with sizes
down to 500 nm. It was shown that the 1/f noise increased as
the size was reduced from 20 μm, although the Hall coefficient
remained approximately constant [108]. A drop in the mobil-
ity as the size fell below a couple of micrometers also revealed
a channel-width dependence on the performance of devices.
Recent work addressing the same issue in CVD graphene that
had been wet transferred on SiO2 showed more promising
results, with an 85 nm wire width probe achieving a Bmin of
√
85 μT Hz−1 at 531 Hz and a 12 μA Hall current [60].
Figure 17 shows that the width of the conducting channel only
played a minimal role down to sizes of about 80 nm, while
50 nm wire width Hall probes showed a rapid deterioration in
Bmin . This probably arises from a drop in mobility due to the
increased contribution of scattering at the edges in graphene
nanoribbons [78].
CVD graphene Hall probes have successfully been incor-
porated into a working scanner by Sonussen et al using a
quartz tuning fork force sensor for surface tracking, as shown
in figure 18(a) [61]. Despite high lead resistances, Bmin is low
√
at 20 μT Hz−1 at 1 kHz and a 3 μA Hall current, allowing it
to produce a high quality image of a NdFeB magnet at 300 K
seen in figure 18(b). Motivated by this success, work is now
underway in many groups to try and improve upon this and
develop deep sub-micron encapsulated Hall probes to increase
both the spatial and magnetic field resolution.
Another major pitfall of conventional SHPM lies in its pla-
nar design. Fabricating the Hall probe on the end of a sharp tip
would represent a major breakthrough for the technique as the
active area of the Hall sensor can then be readily positioned
much closer to the sample surface. AFM/Hall probe micro-
scope hybrids have been fabricated and tested with Bismuth
and III–V semiconductors as the active materials [39, 109].
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002 Topical Review

Figure 17. The estimated Bmin of wet-transferred CVD graphene

Hall probes as a function of wire width with a 2 μA Hall current at
531 Hz and at similar value of RH in the range of 140–180 Ω T−1 .
Dashed lines are given as guides to the eye. Reproduced from [60].
CC BY 4.0.

However these suffer from high lead resistances and poor sta-
bility under ambient conditions. It is also very challenging to
fabricate and pattern the Hall probes in this geometry. Follow-
ing a similar path to Gregusova et al, a graphene/hBN stack
can be deterministically transferred onto a truncated tip, fol-
lowed by Hall probe patterning [109]. However a truncated
tip suffers from poorer topographical imaging as compared
to a more conical tip shape. Promising work by Lanza et al
to develop a method to coat an AFM with CVD graphene,
as shown in figure 19, opens up a route to fabricating a Hall
probe on sharper tips, although admittedly challenging, this
could unlock the much higher topographic resolution they
offer [110]. By combining this with graphene’s previously
described advantages, a high resolution atomic force-tracked
hall probe microscope (AFHPM) is within reach. This could
result in a new turnkey SPM instrument for both research and
industry.
4.4. Non-destructive testing using scanning Hall
susceptometry
Industrial manufacturing processes have evolved rapidly over
the past century, with increasing production volumes as well
as the increased automation of the manufacture of complex
metal structures from bridges and planes to pipework, liq-
uid tanks and motor components. Over time, these materials
degrade with use, eventually risking failure. The service or
replacement or these would represent unacceptable costs for
companies, let alone the major associated health and safety
risk. This has led to the development of a wide array of accu-
rate, fast, reliable and facile NDT tools, minimising associ-
ated costs and eliminating the need to halt the operation of
the object under study. Examples of these techniques include:
acoustic emission testing, radiography, laser testing, suscep-
tometry, microwave testing, pulse echo testing and thermal
imaging [111].
Figure 18. (a) Optical image of a completed CVD graphene-based
SHPM device. (b) Magnetic image of a NdFeB magnetic film at
300 K taken with graphene-based sensor in a scanning Hall
microscope. Reprinted from [61], Copyright (2014), with
permission from Elsevier.
Exploiting the continued minurisation of modern tech-
nologies, mapping a sizeable area to detect weak micro- or
nanoscopic defects within a section of a used or recently fab-
ricated material is a key target of the next Frontier in NDT.
Scanning susceptometry is far from being a new idea. Indeed,
a fast, large area micrometer-sized Hall sensor based NDT
imager has been developed by Watson et al in 2019 for the
detection of magnetic flux leakage for surface flaws in mild
steel plates [112]. These imagers could be applied to detecting
changes in magnetic domain structures due to the applied fields
or stray fields due to eddy currents. A dc scanning susceptome-
ter was also successfully developed by Pereira et al to monitor
the impact of ageing on heat-resistant steels [113]. However in
these cases, the Hall probes were limited to large micron-scale
spatial resolutions, while the excitation coils either encom-
passed the whole sample, or at least a very significant area
around the Hall sensor. On the other hand, enhanced scan-
ning susceptometers have been successfully constructed using
superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUID) by

14
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
Figure 19. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of a Pt–Ir alloy tip
before and after coating with CVD graphene as developed by Lanza
et al. The insets show scanning electron micrographs of the Pt–Ir
alloy tip before and after the CVD graphene coating process. We do
note however that a Pt–Ir alloy would not be practical for the
fabrication of an AFHPM application. [110] John Wiley & Sons.
[Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA,
Weinheim].
Huber et al. [114], with the local field excitation coil sur-
rounding the SQUID ensemble resulting in improved, sub-
micron spatial resolutions and greater local control. This built
upon previous SQUID susceptometer work by Ma et al and
Wisko et al [115, 116]. SQUIDs can be realised by fabricat-
ing two Josephson junctions within a superconducting loop.
When driven above its net critical current, the voltage across
the SQUID oscillates as a function of the flux penetrating the
loop, allowing changes in the applied magnetic field to be mea-
sured. In practice, a field coil is generally added to apply an
additional magnetic field to the device and allowing the output
voltage to be kept constant in a flux-locked loop. The strength
of the field being measured can then be inferred from the cur-
rent flowing in the field coil. Scanning SQUID techniques are,
however, severely limited for the routine NDT applications by
their very low operating temperatures, requiring expensive liq-
uid Helium coolant. In contrast, Hall probes are able to operate
with high magnetic field resolutions up to and above 300 K.
Integration of local excitation coils has been achieved in pro-
totype AFM-tracked Hall probe microscopes, enabling room
temperature operation, however the bismuth-based probes
used suffer from the limitations described in sections 4.3
and 2.4 [39].
With the development of high performance nanoscale
graphene based Hall probes (cf section 3), AFM-tracked Hall
probe scanners with integrated EM coils can be revisited. This
is becoming increasingly feasible as a result of the progress
made in graphene scanning Hall sensors, as described in
section 4.3. Scanning Hall susceptometry (SHS) can there-
fore be seen as an extention to SHPM, with the addition of
a local field excitation coil. From a fabrication point of view,
this has been achieved for the static case by Perzynski et al
and used to study superconductors and spin glass systems [33].
This involved the patterning of multi-loop field excitation coils
15
Topical Review
Figure 20. An SEM image of a Bi sub-micron Hall probe along
with a field excitation coil on the apex of an AFM tip. The coil and
Hall probe are electrically isolated. Reprinted with permission from
[39]. Copyright (2001) American Vacuum Society.
around a two dimensional electron gas Hall probe. A similar
design can be used for AFHPMs where the coil can be pat-
terned around the Hall probe and its leads on the tip. However
this sets a limit on the coil diameter and slightly increases the
coil-sample distance, thus limiting excitation field strength. To
remedy this, field excitation coils may also be added in a sim-
ilar fashion to the Bismuth probes developed by Chung et al
(cf figure 20) [39]. In the case of graphene, the graphene layer
may be isolated from the electromagnetic coil by an interme-
diate hBN flake introduced during hBN encapsulation. This
also allows for a coil with a much reduced diameter to be fab-
ricated, and consequently allows larger fields to be achieved
with the same applied current. This is also beneficial for the
development of an SHS with a planar scanning tunnelling
tracking mode. By placing the field excitation coil beneath
the sensor, the STM tip-sensor separation does not need to be
compromised. With this in mind, the development of a
graphene-based SHS for roll out in micro- and nanoscale
NDT industries looks very promising, e.g. for process con-
trol of structural monitoring of small metallic manufactured
structures. Additionally, with the high mobility of encapsu-
lated graphene devices, an ambitious aim would be to apply
nanoscale graphene based SHS to the process control of thin
film magnetic storage media.
4.5. Calibrated Magnetic force microscopy (MFM)
MFM is a very strong rival to SHPM, and represents a power-
ful tool for routine, high spatial resolution magnetic imaging
of reasonably planar structures [117]. The main drawbacks of
the technique include it is the potentially invasive magnetic tip,
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
whose magnetisation structure is rarely precisely known, and
the challenge to extract quantitative information from images
[38]. The latter can be remedied by exploiting recent advances
in Hall probe development to ‘calibrate’ the tip of the MFM
and better infer its magnetisation state and moment. In this a
quantitative analysis of images can be performed [38]. This
can be achieved by inverting the scanning Hall probe micro-
scope setup such that the MFM tip is now the moving magnetic
object, scanning above a static graphene Hall probe. Such a
technique has been developed around a graphene Hall sen-
sor at the National Physical Laboratory in the United King-
dom known as magnetic scanning gate microscopy (mSGM)
[118–121]. Here, deep sub-micron to micron wire width epi-
taxial graphene Hall probes on SiC were used as high spatial
resolution and magnetic sensitivity Hall probes. An MFM tip
oscillating at a set amplitude is brought into close proximity
with the Hall probe and scanned over it while the Hall volt-
age is measured at each pixel. A tuning fork AFM approach
is used to avoid the optically induced excitation of charge
carriers in the Hall device. The Hall voltage signal measured
depends explicitly on the tip-sensor separation, the oscillation
amplitude and the magnetic moment of the tip.
However, as the MFM tip scans over the Hall probe an
additional unwanted signal is collected due to the electrostatic
interaction between the Hall probe and the tip. This effect is
reflected very strongly in Hall voltage maps by a two fold sym-
metric signal with peak voltages at the intersection between the
current and voltage arms, whereby diagonally opposite corners
have the same sign. This is collected in addition to the expected
Hall signal due to the tip’s stray field. The contrast due to the
Lorentz force on carriers and the tip-sample capacitive cou-
pling effect is inverted if the sign of I H is reversed. Changing
the tip bias also reverses the magnitude of the peak signals in
the corners of the active sensing area, whereas the voltage sig-
nal at the centre remains the same. When the tip-sensor sepa-
ration increases, the magnitude of both signals decays. Finally,
the tip magnetisation can be reversed, revealing that the central
region of the Hall voltage signal reverses, while the peaks in
the corners keep the same polarity [120]. These observations
confirm the electrostatic nature of signal observed in the cor-
ners of the active area. The capacitive coupling in graphene
is expected to be notable due to the fact that graphene’s car-
rier are located on the surface of the sample. This electrostatic
force can be defined by [118]
dC V 2
F= , (19)
dz 2
where V = V probe − V CPD + V mod sin(f mod t), V probe and V mod
are the DC and AC voltage components applied to the tip,
V CPD is the contact potential difference, C is the tip-sensor
capacitance and z is the tip-sensor separation. Sideband signals
are detected with frequencies f 0 ± f mod due to the oscillating
electrostatic force gradient.
Frequency-modulated kelvin probe force microscopy (FM-
KPFM) can be used as a feedback method to eliminate this
parasitic ‘gating’ effect. The feedback loop of an FM-KPFM
automatically adjusts V probe to cancel V CPD and eliminate the
probe tip-sensor electric field. Under these conditions only
16
Topical Review
Figure 21. Schematic of the mSGM mode with FM-KPFM
feedback to eliminate unwanted electrostatic effects. Aosc is the
peak-to-peak tip oscillation amplitude and f 0 is the mechanical
resonance frequency. A typical resulting 2D map is also shown
superimposed on the outline of the Hall probe. Reproduced from
[119]. CC BY 4.0.
the tip’s stray magnetic field is captured in the Hall voltage
map, as shown in figure 21 for the mSGM setup. The largest
Hall voltage value is therefore measured when the MFM tip is
positioned over the geometrical centre of the Hall probe.
A major advantage of the graphene-based mSGM tech-
nique is that it can be readily used with commercial
AFM/MFM setups, making mSGM an accessible technique
for all AFM/MFM users. With the increasing growth quality
and spatial and magnetic field resolution of graphene, mSGM
using graphene Hall probes could well become a common
option in commercial AFM/MFM systems for the calibration
of MFM tips. The technique can then also be used in reverse,
whereby the spatial resolution of a Hall probe can be deter-
mined from the Hall voltage map generated by a scanning
MFM tip.
5. Future perspectives
5.1. Improved sensing performance
Despite having been first isolated more than 15 years ago
[122], graphene still has a long way to go before it will be fully
optimised for commercial applications. In the case of Hall sen-
sors, the two key figures-of-merit highlight specific properties
of graphene-based devices one should target to improve. The
magnetic sensitivity (or Hall coefficient) and electronic noise
is well known to be optimised by encapsulation with hBN,
where field sensitivities exceeding 5000 Ω T−1 at room temper-
ature and 300 kΩ T−1 at 4.2 K have already been achieved [62,
63]. Thanks to the low electronic noise, Bmin can easily reach
√
down to 50 nT Hz at room temperature at low measurement
frequencies [62].
The next challenge for developing graphene Hall probes is
to maintain the high field resolution while reducing the Hall
probe dimensions. This not only increases the spatial reso-
lution for sensing applications, but also plays a part in the
increasing miniaturisation of electronic devices and sensors,
for example in IoT applications. Graphene nanoribbons have
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
Figure 22. Collection of mobilities of unencapsulated monolayer
graphene Hall bars on SiO2 with wire widths ranging from a couple
of nanometres to 1 micron, at room temperature
[78, 108, 123, 125, 149–152]. An increasing downward trend of
mobility as the size decreases is identifiable.
been routinely fabricated by a variety of methods, including
patterning down to the tens of nanometers by electron beam
lithography with high resolution resists such as PMMA and
HSQ followed by a dry etching step, and have also been fab-
ricated by ‘unzipping’ carbon nanotubes [78, 123, 124]. Elec-
tronic transport measurements reveal a reduction in the size
of the graphene device to the nanoscale results in a significant
reduction in the carrier mobility, as illustrated in figure 22 [78].
This is also reflected in increased longitudinal low frequency
noise [148]. Since it is now well established that the perfor-
mance can be greatly enhanced by the appropriate choice of
substrate, one could speculate that the performance of nanorib-
bons could be enhanced the same way. The fabrication of
nanoribbons has already been achieved on an hBN substrate,
which might be expected to mirror the high performance of
larger graphene-on-hBN devices [125]. However, in practice
an improved performance is not observed in graphene nanorib-
bons etched on hBN [126], which have the same longitudinal
mobility as similar structures on silicon dioxide.
Since the performance of these nanoribbons is clearly lim-
ited by scattering at the edges, this bottleneck may yet be
overcome. One approach which is currently being explored
involves the chemical passivation of edges. Hydrogenation
of edges has revealed a 50% increase in the mobility due to
mobile carriers being pushed towards paths along the mid-
dle of the nanoribbon thereby bypassing the scattering sites
along the edges [127–129]. The careful control and modifi-
cation of edges in graphene nanoribbons has thus far shown
to be an excellent step towards the realisation of high per-
formance graphene devices. Applying these techniques to the
fabrication of nanoscale Hall probes promises to significantly
improve their performance, allowing them to retain the ultra-
high magnetic sensitivity found in larger sub-micron-sized
devices.
5.2. From lab to industry: scalability
An obvious question one can direct towards device fabrica-
tion from graphene is whether reliable industrially-scalable
production can be achieved? The extensive uses of graphene
beyond Hall sensors have driven intense research into the
17
Topical Review
realisation of large area, high performance graphene, hence
offering alternatives to indium tin oxide, silicon and III–V
semiconductors in a number of key applications [5, 130]. More
than 15 years since its isolation it is still difficult to imag-
ine graphene ever taking the same role in day-to-day appli-
cations as silicon currently does. A few promising methods
currently exist for the production of few layer or monolayer
graphene, including epitaxial growth on SiC [131], molecular
beam epitaxy (MBE) [132] and CVD growth on various sub-
strates [133]. Of these, CVD graphene is the most widespread,
and for some time has been readily available from commercial
providers such as graphene and graphene supermarket. Fur-
thermore, graphene can be grown on [134], and transferred
from various growth substrates to almost any flat material
of choice [135, 136], greatly expanding the applicability of
graphene devices.
Previous work with commercially-grown wet-transferred
CVD graphene on Si/SiO2 has shown that even without using
optimised substrates such as hBN and cleaner transfer meth-
ods, the quality of the Hall probes remains high and very
competitive with other materials systems over a wide range of
sizes [60]. Other works have investigated an all CVD graphene
structures composed of hBN and monolayer graphene [137].
Despite the better choice of substrate, the figures-of-merit do
not appear to improve significantly, with low carrier mobili-
ties and low magnetic sensitivities. One could possibly infer
from this that the wet transfer process is the dominant source
of charge scattering centres.
Since there are no stringent requirements on the hBN flake
thickness, one can fabricate devices by freely selecting from
a large number of exfoliated hBN flakes on a Si/SiO2 sub-
strate, with the potential for reliable large number of devices
after transfer of a single CVD graphene sheet on top. Exfoli-
ated or CVD hBN can then be transferred on top to complete
a fully encapsulated device. Although we note that this is still
far from industrial scalability. Recent progress in the dry trans-
fer of graphene from its growth substrate makes this option
particularly attractive [59]. This approach makes use of the
weakened adhesion between the copper growth substrate and
graphene as the copper oxidises under ambient atmospheric
conditions over just a few days [138]. Once weakened, the
strong van der Waals forces between an hBN flake/sheet on
a dry transfer polymer pickup stamp allows the graphene to be
picked up from the copper growth substrate [139]. Graphene
can then be fully encapsulated by releasing the hBN/graphene
structure onto another hBN flake. This can result in CVD
graphene devices with electron mobilities comparable with
exfoliated flakes, demonstrating that the absence of contami-
nants from the graphene transfer process is the major factor in
contributing to its outstanding electrical properties. Combin-
ing this with a large area hBN-assisted transfer process devel-
oped by Shautsova et al whereby the hBN layer effectively
replaces the polymer layer in a conventional wet transfer [140],
scalable encapsulated graphene devices look increasingly like
they will become the building blocks for high performance
devices in the future. Scalable fabrication will also need to be
coupled with highly reproducible performance for graphene-
based Hall probes produced in industry. The stringency of the
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 (2021) 243002
reproducibility will naturally depend on the proposed appli-
cation of the Hall probe. For example, handheld Hall sen-
sors will need a minimum stability for its Hall coefficient,
while Hall probe imaging tools will need to have the minimum
detectable field of the graphene Hall probe remain below a cer-
tain threshold at deep sub-micron wire widths. Reproducibil-
ity therefore represents a significant additional challenge for
graphene-based Hall probe fabrication to overcome.
6. Conclusions
Graphene, as silicon once did, still has a long way to go
before its routine integration into everyday electronic appli-
cations. However, one promising application which is get-
ting very close to this feat is magnetic sensing with graphene
Hall probes. These have already exhibited remarkable mag-
netic sensitivities, which improve still further when placed on
optimised substrate materials. Furthermore, by the systematic
reduction of sources of electronic noise, the signal-to-noise
ratio has become highly competitive as compared to alterna-
tive material choices. Finally, thanks to its physical versatility
and robustness, it can readily be patterned down to nanoscale
sizes and integrated into more complex devices, e.g., the incor-
poration of Hall probes on the apex of an AFM tip, or in harsher
environments, such as wearable devices. There is probably lit-
tle doubt that graphene will become the material of choice to
fabricate the next generation of Hall probes for future appli-
cations, such as in imaging and the IoT. Hence the field is
likely to develop very rapidly in the coming years, driven by
groundbreaking research and innovation.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge financial support from EPSRC in the UK
under Grant No. EP/R007160/1. DC is supported by a PhD
studentship from Lloyds Register Foundation ICON (Award
Nos. G0086).
Data availability statement
No new data were created or analysed in this study.
ORCID iDs
David Collomb https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5591-8802
Penglei Li https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0992-4616
Simon Bending https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4474-2554
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