Stucture & property evolution of thin film soft magnetic nanocomposites in the CoFe(B)-SiOx system

Magnetically soft nanogranular thin films comprised of metal grains separated by an insulating oxide matrix have emerged as an attractive candidate for high frequency inductor applications. The development of magnetic cores that can be integrated with current CMOS technology are critical to enable future power supplies on a chip (PwrSOC) that will lead to further miniaturization of electronic devices and improve energy efficiency for longer battery life. [1] From on-chip microinductors to bulk transformer cores, benefits are realized from the same fundamental properties - large saturation induction, high electrical resistivity, and low magnetic hysteresis losses. Due to their prevalence in power electronics, small advancements in inductor performance can yield tremendous cost savings while cutting energy consumption.