Size and Performance Tradeoffs in Micro-Inductors for High Frequency DC-DC Conversion

Author

Meere, Ronan ; O´Donnell, Terence ; Wang, N. ; Achotte, N. ; Kulkarni, S. ; O´Mathuna, S.C.

Author_Institution

Microsyst. Centre, Tyndall Nat. Inst., Cork, Ireland

Volume

45

Issue

10

fYear

2009

Firstpage

4234

Lastpage

4237

Abstract

This paper presents the design and measurement of optimized inductors-on-silicon (ldquomicro-inductorsrdquo) for use in high frequency DC-DC conversion applications. These ultra-compact low profile (< 70 mum) inductors range in area from 0.5-2.5 mm² . The design process utilizes optimization software that finds the optimal physical dimensions, to maximize inductor efficiency, given certain technology constraints. Optimized micro-inductors achieve measured inductance densities of 66 nH/mm² for a 2.5 mm² area, 110 nH/mm² for 1.3 mm² device and 82 nH/mm² for a 0.5 mm² footprint area. Measured saturation currents range from 0.15-0.5 A for the optimized devices.

Keywords

DC-DC power convertors; high-frequency transformers; inductors; current 0.15 A to 0.5 A; high frequency DC-DC conversion; inductor-on-silicon optimization measurement; microinductor; optimization software; ultra-compact low profile inductors; Density; design tradeoffs; enhancement; high frequency; optimization;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMAG.2009.2024544

Filename

5257146