High efficiency Si integrated micro-transformers using stacked copper windings for power conversion applications

This paper details the design, fabrication, and characterization of silicon integrated micro-transformers. Two types of race-track shaped micro-transformers, single copper winding or single layer metal (SLM) and double copper winding or double layer metal (DLM) were designed and fabricated using standard CMOS processing. The DLM devices have higher inductance density than SLM devices realized within similar footprint area. The design study showed that the efficiency of micro-transformers increased from 37% for SLM designs to over 75% for DLM transformers at 20 MHz.