Permanent magnet power inductor with EE core for switching power converters

This paper presents a 14mm×7mm×5mm EE core ~760nH power inductor (PI) with a permanent magnet (EE-PMPI). By using a small piece of the NdFeB magnet, the saturation current of the EE-PMPI is doubled while maintaining the same footprint size and the same inductance value. 3-D physical model simulation results obtained from the ANSYS®/Maxwell® are used to illustrate and visualize the saturation current doubling of the EE-PMPI. Results show that compared to a conventional PI with the same size and almost the same inductance (~730nH), the saturation current of the EE-PMPI is increased from 15A to 30A.