Hybrid MEMS inductor for miniaturized autonomous power converter

Author

Saidani, Menouer ; Meyer, Andreas ; Gijs, Martin A M

Author_Institution

Inst. of Microelectron. & Microsystems, Swiss Fed. Inst. of Technol., Lausanne, Switzerland

fYear

2003

fDate

19-23 Jan. 2003

Firstpage

586

Lastpage

589

Abstract

We propose a hybrid technology to realize three-dimensional (3D) MEMS power inductors for use in a new type of miniaturized power converter. The inductors are composed of high-resolution coils made in a Cu/polyimide technology and miniature ferrite cores made by a powder blasting micro-erosion process. The converter transforms voltages as low as 0.4 V, originating from a single solar cell, to an output voltage in the range of 1-20 V and is located inside a tetrahedral-shaped parallel assembly of solar cells. Thereby, solar energy is transformed into exploitable electrical power for use in industrial or space applications, where ubiquitous and autonomous electrical energy is required.

Keywords

micromechanical devices; power convertors; power inductors; solar cells; 0.4 V; 1 to 20 V; Cu; Cu/polyimide technology; Fe₂O₃; hybrid MEMS inductor; hybrid technology; miniature ferrite cores; miniaturized autonomous power converter; powder blasting micro-erosion process; solar cells; Assembly; Coils; Ferrites; Inductors; Low voltage; Micromechanical devices; Photovoltaic cells; Polyimides; Powders; Solar energy;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2003. MEMS-03 Kyoto. IEEE The Sixteenth Annual International Conference on

ISSN

1084-6999

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7744-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MEMSYS.2003.1189817

Filename

1189817