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• A micro-inductor has been fabricated using a MEMS process. • The device has a single layer copper winding sandwiched between two layers of core. • The micro-inductor has a footprint area of 2.9 mm2. • The measured inductance is 204 nH at 21.7 MHz and DC resistance is 470 m Ω. • The peak quality factor of the micro-inductor is 9.23 at 9.2 MHz. • The micro-inductor has been applied in a buck converter. • The achieved maximum converter efficiency is 81.74% at 20 MHz. • The micro-inductor has also been compared with an air core inductor embedded in PCB. • The 220 nH air core inductor has a large footprint area of 32 mm2. • The maximum converter efficiency is 85.47% when the air core inductor is applied. A micro-inductor has been fabricated on silicon substrate using a Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) process. The micro-inductor has a single layer copper winding sandwiched between two layers of electroplated NiFe core. It has a footprint area of 2.9 mm2, an inductance of 204 nH at 21.7 MHz, a DC resistance of 470 m Ω , and a peak quality factor of 9.23 at 9.2 MHz. The micro-inductor has been applied in a buck converter and achieved a maximum converter efficiency of 81.74% at 20 MHz. The performance of the micro-inductor has also been compared with an air-core inductor embedded in PCB. The air core inductor has a similar inductance of 220 nH, but with a large footprint area of 32 mm2. The maximum buck converter efficiency is 85.47% when the air core inductor is applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]