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Coupled inductors offer significant advantages over their uncoupled counterparts; however, with these advantages come a number of additional design caveats. The factors affecting the design and optimization of coupled stripline microinductors for PwrSoC applications are outlined, which include device area, the number of coupled phases, duty cycle, paralleling of coupled inductors, switching frequency, as well as thermal and saturation constraints. Results of this analysis are presented and discussed along with guidelines for the design of coupled stripline microinductors, which show that paralleling coupled inductors is the best route toward higher output current. Analytical models predict a peak inductor efficiency of 86.8% and 86.3% for fabricated 3 and 5-phase coupled stripline microinductors with an Ni45Fe55 core, respectively. Models are verified by measurements on prototype 3 and 5-phase converters with parallel coupled stripline microinductors over a range of operating conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin-film Si-integrated inductors with closed cores have different magnetic field distributions in the winding window space compared to the inductors with unclosed cores. One-dimensional methods are no longer applicable for these inductors to calculate the ac resistance. Based on the analysis of the magnetic field distribution of the devices, a 2-D field solution was developed, which leads to an improved 2-D method to calculate the ac resistance of the device. High accuracy of this new approach has been verified by finite-element analysis, while 1-D methods can lead to significant errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an integrated power microinductor, the size and shape of the magnetic material will have a relationship to the permeability and inductance of the device. To demonstrate these effects, a set of inductors with closed Ni45Fe55 films were fabricated having similar structures but different footprint sizes and aspect ratios (ARs). Magnetic and electrical characterization was performed on the devices to determine magnetic properties, and in both measurements the same relationship between film shape and magnetic anisotropy is observed. Micromagnetic shape anisotropy simulations were used to predict this behavior and correlate with the experimentally determined parameters. The AR of the film is determined to have a strong influence on the anisotropy and permeability of the magnetic film via shape demagnetization effects which is shown to be a significant variation from the as-deposited magnetic material parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the future of integrated inductor design on silicon for power conversion applications at frequencies up to 100 MHz—is it magnetic-core or air-core inductors. This study presents measured results for two microfabricated inductors (magnetic core and air core), which have been designed to operate at 20 MHz and occupy a substrate area of less than 10 mm^2. The inductor technology and design are briefly discussed. An optimized inductor design study is, then, presented. Both magnetic-core and air-core inductor designs are compared and evaluated, in terms of inductance and efficiency per unit area for frequencies up to 100 MHz. The design of the microinductors is discussed and an analytical design optimization program is used to model the devices for the maximum efficiency and inductance. The introduction of laminations with high-frequency core inductors will also be examined within the study. A 100 MHz magnetic-core inductor design with three laminations gives a 36 nH inductance, with 96.4% efficiency and an area of 3 mm^2. A comparable air-core design also gives a 36 nH inductance, with 93.45% efficiency and an area of just 2.6 mm^2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]