Melexis extends its IMC-Hall current sensor chip to meet the needs of smart power applications

Tysondelo, Belgium, March 28, 2025 - Melexis, a global microelectronics engineering company, announced the launch of the MLX91218 Low magnetic field (LF) chip. The chip is used as the Melai Core IMC-Hall? The latest version of the current sensor chip, designed for low current (below 100A) applications, enables intelligent energy monitoring in areas such as residential and small industrial distribution units, microgrids and electric vehicle (EV) charging lines. The chip uses non-invasive technology and is ideal for clamp measurement applications.

In industrial and residential environments, energy monitoring is critical to improving the efficiency of electronic circuits. Devices such as power supplies and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) collect data that helps revolutionize the way energy is used to effectively reduce waste while supporting smart management of the grid, including strategies such as peaking, which reduces electricity usage during peak hours.

The MLX91218-LF is a sensor chip designed for a variety of solutions for smart distribution units, power units, power monitors in industrial and residential environments, as well as power related fields such as uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) and electric vehicle charging lines. In these applications, intelligent and non-intrusive monitoring of currents up to 100A is essential to ensure reliable system operation. With a bandwidth of 400kHz and a response time of 2μs, the chip can quickly detect small current changes, while combining low thermal drift over a wide temperature range, high linearity (± 0.5% full scale) and low noise to ensure accurate measurements in a variety of operating environments.

To simplify integration, the device offers optional analog outputs, supports either proportional or fixed (Vref) output modes, and can be powered with a 3.3V or 5V power supply for a high degree of flexibility. The device adopts IMC Hall? Technology that supports vertical stacking of current conductors, PCBS, and sensing chips helps reduce physical design considerations compared to core-based technologies. In addition, its magnetic point design also brings benefits for embedded applications, using surface mount packaging, not only simplifies the integration of sensor chips with larger PCBS, but also improves assembly efficiency and reduces costs.
The MLX91218-LF integrates both internal and external dual threshold overcurrent detection (OCD), a feature that plays a key role in creating intelligent functions such as electronic fuses. Electronic fuses are important components in smart residential and industrial power distribution systems, which can further enhance the intelligence level of the system. OCD events are indicated by a low-level active open leak output, the threshold of which can be flexibly adjusted within or outside the sensing range of the chip output as required.

In typical electroflumetry applications, the sensor chip can be used in combination with a simple U-shaped shield to measure the current on a bus bar or PCB. For clamp-on current measurement solutions, the shield assembly can be clipped directly to the current conductor for non-invasive measurement. In some specific applications, such as those with low electromagnetic interference (EMI), the shield can be omitted, further reducing integration considerations and reducing the overall footprint.

Bruno Boury, Product Line Director at Melaycore, said: "To improve the efficiency and sustainability of the grid, intelligent technology needs to be introduced at a more refined level. This demand is driving the development of smart power devices in the home and industrial sectors that not only effectively reduce energy consumption, but also help users participate in grid management strategies such as peak cutting and load shifting. "The new MLX91218-LF is based on 20 years of Melacore IMC technology and is designed for critical low-current applications, offering easy integration, high accuracy, high cost performance and high reliability."