Sensors 2015, 15, 28665-28689; doi:10.3390/s151128665 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors Review Recent Developments of Magnetoresistive Sensors for Industrial Applications Lisa Jogschies, Daniel Klaas, Rahel Kruppe, Johannes Rittinger, Piriya Taptimthong, Anja Wienecke, Lutz Rissing and Marc Christopher Wurz * Institute of Micro Production Technology, Centre for Production Technology, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Garbsen 30823, Germany; E-Mails:
[email protected] (L.J.);
[email protected] (D.K.);
[email protected] (R.K.);
[email protected] (J.R.);
[email protected] (P.T.);
[email protected] (A.W.);
[email protected] (L.R.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +49-511-762-7486; Fax: +49-511-762-2867. Academic Editor: Andreas Hütten Received: 31 August 2015 / Accepted: 5 November 2015 / Published: 12 November 2015 Abstract: The research and development in the field of magnetoresistive sensors has played an important role in the last few decades. Here, the authors give an introduction to the fundamentals of the anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) and the giant magnetoresistive (GMR) effect as well as an overview of various types of sensors in industrial applications. In addition, the authors present their recent work in this field, ranging from sensor systems fabricated on traditional substrate materials like silicon (Si), over new fabrication techniques for magnetoresistive sensors on flexible substrates for special applications, e.g., a flexible write head for component integrated data storage, micro-stamping of sensors on arbitrary surfaces or three dimensional sensing under extreme conditions (restricted mounting space in motor air gap, high temperatures during geothermal drilling).