Superconducting Inductors for Ultra-High Frequency Power Conversion

We present results of construction and testing of an ultra-high frequency thin film high temperature spiral the superconducting inductor. The result shows that superconducting inductor is almost lossless compared to an identical spiral inductor made of copper at ultra-high frequencies (> 100 MHz). Furthermore, the superconducting inductor is capable of carrying high currents. Therefore, we show that for ultra-high frequency power conversion, a superconducting inductor is a viable option in applications where liquid nitrogen cooling can be implemented. We further demonstrate, by using finite element model (FEM), that the lower quality factor and efficiency of copper inductor is due to current crowding near the short edges of the copper conductors. In addition, using FEM we demonstrate the need for shielding at such high frequencies.