Title :
Investigations on on-chip planar inductor design with post-processed magnetic core for DC-DC converter applications
Author :
Taewook Kang ; Jaeha Kim
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Inter-Univ. Semicond. Res. Center, Seoul, South Korea
Abstract :
The paper investigated the efficacy of on-chip planar spiral inductors with post-processed magnetic cores for the purpose of on-chip, point-of-load DC-DC regulation. The best core structure feasible with simple IC post-processing steps such as etching/drilling and deposition is an E-shape, composed of vertical cores located in the center and sides of the spiral and a horizontal core on the top. The best inductor geometry per given IC area that can maximize the efficiency of the DC-DC converter in given operating conditions is found via EM simulation and verified with measurements using on-board planar inductors and on-chip inductors implemented in a 0.18-μm CMOS. The analysis and measurement found that with the proposed core structure, the inductance can be increased by 2.5× with the core permeability of 10 and 3.5× with 100. Albeit a moderate improvement, it can considerably improve the efficiency of on-chip, point-of-load DC-DC converters.
Keywords :
CMOS analogue integrated circuits; DC-DC power convertors; inductors; magnetic cores; CMOS implementation; DC-DC converter application; EM simulation; IC post-processing step; core permeability; deposition; etching-drilling; inductor geometry; on-board planar inductor; on-chip inductor; on-chip planar spiral inductor design; on-chip point-of-load DC-DC regulation; post-processed magnetic core; size 0.18 mum; Conductors; Frequency conversion; Integrated circuits; Magnetic cores; Permeability measurement; Semiconductor device measurement; Switches; DC-DC Converter; On-chip Spiral Inductor; Open-loop Magnetic Core;
Conference_Titel :
ECCE Asia Downunder (ECCE Asia), 2013 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Melbourne, VIC
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-0483-9
DOI :
10.1109/ECCE-Asia.2013.6579242
