Frequency Scaling Effects of Integrated Passive Components in High Frequency Power Conversion

The trend towards miniaturization and higher levels of integration in DC-DC power converters over the past two decades has been mainly enabled by improved device technologies allowing increasing switching frequencies. However, overall reductions in sizes of power converters don\´t always follow escalated switching frequencies. Whereas power density can dramatically increase as a function of increasing frequency, it is also known that there is an optimum frequency (or frequencies) beyond which the reverse is true. At some point, any further increase in switching frequency ultimately results in degraded performance. This paper investigates the frequency scaling limitations of integrated passive components. A methodology is developed to theoretically analyze and maximize frequency and performance of passive components for power conversion in terms of efficiency and power density, considering materials, thermal management, packaging and in-circuits functions among others. This is also an attempt to answer the question "what is the optimum power conversion frequency for a particular integrated passive component of a certain technology in my circuit, given all the specifications and the design freedom that I have"?