Design Methodology and Manufacture of a Microinductor

TL;DR

This paper explores alternative core materials for microinductors operating between 0.5-10 MHz, assessing their performance and proposing an optimized design to improve efficiency and power density.

Contribution

It introduces a new methodology for designing microinductors with alternative core materials and demonstrates potential improvements in efficiency and power density.

Findings

Current inductor achieves 77% efficiency at 500 KHz

Optimized process predicts 97% efficiency at higher power density

Performance issues and design principles are discussed

Abstract

Potential core materials to supersede ferrite in the 0.5-10 MHz frequency range are investigated. The performance of electrodeposited nickel-iron, cobalt-iron-copper alloys and the commercial alloy Vitrovac 6025 have been assessed through their inclusion within a custom-made solenoid microinductor. Although the present inductor, at 500 KHz, achieves 77% power efficiency for 24.7W/cm3 power density, an optimized process predicts a power efficiency of 97% for 30.83W/cm3 power density. The principle issues regarding microinductor design and performance are discussed.