IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - December 2015 - 33

Embedded Inductor Road Map
Presently Established

In Development
Embedded Inductor Cell TSMC

HTCC
Technologies

Copper Terminals

Thin-Film Multilayer KOA Speer

Nanoparticle Composites

Air Core in Parallel Substrate-Intel

CIP/Epoxy-Shinshu University
Ni45Fe55-Tyndall

Aerosol Deposition
Nanotechnology Materials

MEMS on Ferrite Substrate Altera

Sputtering Deposition

Aerosol Deposition
Ferrous Powder in Epoxy
Stacked Ultrathin Magnetics GIT

CoZrTaB-ASU/Intel

Granular CoFeZrO INN
Epoxy Composite Paste

NiZn 4F1 LTCC

CoZnO-MIT et al.

Metglas 2605HB1

Embedded in Processor Chip

Silicon Embedded Magnetics

LTCC

Soft Ferrite

Stacked Ultrathin Magnetics

Embedded in Interposer

Embedded Planar Ferrite Bel Fuse

FeNi

Multi-FCA on Si-Altera

Multilayer LTCC

Multilayer Composite GT

Air Core (Nonmagnetic)

Materials

Possible Future Directions

NiFeMo GT

NiFeMo-Georgia Tech

Amorphous FeBSiC Flake-Yamaguchi
Amorphous FeBSiC Flake NEC-Toykin

FeCo Alloy (FCA)-Altera
Metglas TR 26XX
Ferrite

YIG-U.S. NRL
CoFe

CoFe-Wurth

FeSiO2 Composite

FeBSi-ASU/Intel
FeSiO2 Composite

Ni45Fe55-Tyndall
FeCo-B/MgO-Qingdao

CoZrO Granular Film
CIP = Carbonyl-Iron Powder in Epoxy (CIP/Epoxy)
YIG = Yttrium Iron Garnet (Y3Fe5O12)

FIG 5 The five-year embedded inductor road map.

Altera's ferrous cobalt alloy technology, which has been
known and include ferrite (both soft and hard), Metglas, and
proven experimentally. The technologies that are adopted
nickel ferrite. Of these materials, nickel ferrite was used to
will need to serve both the lumped modular converter and
create racetrack deposition inductors and transformers on
the granular converter approaches.
semiconductor substrates as early as 2004 [19]. There are a
wide variety of materials presently in development all trying to increase the inductance X current density (LA/mm3)
capacitor components
figure of merit to fill the ubiquitously evident existing mateSimilar to the embedded magnetics, embedded capacitors
rial gap. Most are attempting to create miniature integrated
are very power limited. Early development work has
inductors for the granular power supplies. However, some
focused on capacitors that improve signal and power integhold hope of enabling much higher LA/mm3 lumped inducrity, such as shunting high-frequency noise and oscillations.
At the present time, designers apply most embedded capactors for modular converters. The foremost are the future
itors in filtering high-frequency electrical noise out of the
nanotechnology material possibilities.
incoming lines and power delivery networks. For the
The present technologies are also well known, such as
power converter designer, the power
planar ferrite, high-temperature copassive functional objective is to store
fired ceramic (HTCC), and sputtering
the energy required in each power
deposition, and for those attempting
transfer pulse. Therefore, designers
to increase density via high-frequency
High-power-density
are striving to increase the suitability
operation, the air-core approach. Curcomponent embedding
of embedded capacitors for energy
rently in development are composite,
and 3-D packaging of
storage functions. This means
granular film, amorphous, and LTCC
increasing the capacitance density
approaches. Many are advocating
power semiconductor
and current-carrying capability by
LTCC; however, Alderman et al. [1]
devices have to
orders of magnitude while at the same
point out the remaining limitations
time enabling higher frequency confor LTCC inductors. The future techovercome an inherent
verter switching at 85% or greater effinological approaches that are being
thermal barrier.
ciencies so that less stored energy is
considered are ferrous powder eprequired for each switching pulse.
oxy, ultrathin-layered magnetics, and
December 2015

z IEEE PowEr ElEctronIcs MagazInE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - December 2015