Characteristics of Double Planar Micro-Inductor with Patterned NiFe Thin-Films for DC/DC Integration

Mingming Chen; Guifu Ding; Ping Cheng; Congchun Zhang; Xiaomin Zhu; Zhe Liu

doi:10.3390/mi8050151

Micromachines (May 2017)

Characteristics of Double Planar Micro-Inductor with Patterned NiFe Thin-Films for DC/DC Integration

Mingming Chen,
Guifu Ding,
Ping Cheng,
Congchun Zhang,
Xiaomin Zhu,
Zhe Liu

Affiliations

Mingming Chen: National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Micro/Nano Fabrication, Department of Micro/Nano Electronics, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Guifu Ding: National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Micro/Nano Fabrication, Department of Micro/Nano Electronics, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Ping Cheng: National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Micro/Nano Fabrication, Department of Micro/Nano Electronics, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Congchun Zhang: National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Micro/Nano Fabrication, Department of Micro/Nano Electronics, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Xiaomin Zhu: National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Micro/Nano Fabrication, Department of Micro/Nano Electronics, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Zhe Liu: National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Micro/Nano Fabrication, Department of Micro/Nano Electronics, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/mi8050151
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 8, no. 5
p. 151

Abstract

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This paper proposes a double-planar-coil microinductor with patterned permalloy magnetic film for high frequency DC–DC integration. The effects of magnetic film’s patterning and thickness on the inductance and quality factor of the micro-inductor are investigated by using COMSOL Multiphysics software. Simulation results indicate that the magnetic film improves the inductance of microinductor effectively and patterning of the magnetic film reduces eddy current loss in high frequency range. The micro-inductor is fabricated by using micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technique. The inductance of approximately 2.17 μH at 1.5 MHz and the quality factor of 2.8 are achieved for the microinductor with patterned magnetic film. The performances of the micro-inductor applied in a low-power DC/DC converter are tested. The results indicate that the micro-inductor with the patterned magnetic film effectively has improved inductance and quality factor compared to that with non-patterned magnetic film. The maximum efficiency of measured converter is 67% at 1.5 MHz and the output current is 100 mA.

Published in Micromachines

ISSN: 2072-666X (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Mechanical engineering and machinery
Website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/micromachines

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