IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2023 - 34

FIG 6 E-CAP mounting locations.
FIG 7 Lumped impedance model of power delivery network.
As with other applications, there is a choice to continue
using standard MLCC capacitors or E-CAPs. To provide
further context, it is important to note that such IVRs are
meant for point-of-load power, targeting output voltages
from 0.4 to 2.0 V. Figure 9 illustrates the difference in ripple
of solutions that utilize MLCC versus E-CAPs on the output
ripple signature of a dc-dc converter operating at 10 MHz.
The difference between the MLCC solution (12 mV ripple)
and the E-CAP solution (7 mV) with lower capacitance but
also lower ESL is very noticeable. Moreover, it is worth
pointing out that the ripple waveform is smoother, resulting
in fewer harmonics limiting the EMI signature of the design.
This is further illustrated in the frequency spectrum of the
E-CAP solution versus the MLCC solution in Figure 10.
Semiconductor Process Technologies
Deliver Further Benefits
FIG 8 Step-down converter showing parasitics of output filter.
Application of E-CAPs in High-Frequency Integrated
Voltage Regulators
Another notable trend for dc-dc converters meant for highperformance
applications are integrated voltage regulators
(IVRs). IVRs leverage ultra-high switching frequency techniques
in dc-dc converters, enabling orders of magnitude
higher bandwidth, allowing ultra-fast response to load steps
with minimal droop and recovery. Figure 8 illustrates the
topology of a step-down converter showing the parasitics of
the filter elements at the output. Often neglected at low frequencies,
the ESR and ESL of the output capacitor become
critical design elements for IVRs that operate at high frequencies,
in order to minimize noise and ripple.
34 IEEE POWER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE z September 2023
Using a silicon fabrication process adds several additional
benefits to E-CAP development. Not only are the manufacturing
methods and toolchains well-established and subject
to tight tolerances, silicon is also very tolerant to temperature
changes and offers inherent accuracy and stability characteristics.
E-CAPs are also not susceptible to low-frequency
audible noise artifacts and microphonics that MLCCs suffer
from. Another factor is that semiconductor-based devices
are not prone to strong magnetic fields, making them ideal
for medical diagnostic equipment such as MRI scanners.
E-CAP packaging options include bumps, copper pads,
and pillars, and these contribute to minimizing ESL and
ESR characteristics and enabling significant density
improvements, such as achieving a 2×-5× size reduction by
integrating 25 capacitors into a single CSP package.

IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2023

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