Tuesday, 2 October 2018: 08:20
Universal 10 (Expo Center)
Novel nano-enabled microinductors for power electronics using advanced heterogeneous integration have been developed. These toroidal microinductors employ a first-of-its-kind nanocomposite magnetic core material employing superparamagnetic iron nanoparticles that are covalently cross-linked. This nanocomposite has high resistivity, is mold injectable, and can be cured at low temperature (63 °C) making it better suited for microfabrication than current, state-of-the-art ferrite core materials. The coil is micromachined out of electroformed copper consisting of top, inner/outer, and bottom winding layers. Two unique methods are used to form the electroplating molds for the inner/outer windings to accommodate thick core layers demonstrating two different ways these microinductors can be made. The first method employs high-aspect-ratio 3D printed resin molds instead of standard photoresist. The second method uses the non-conducting nanocomposite core itself as the plating mold and patterning is performed via femtosecond laser micromachining. These Sandia developed technologies enable new, low-cost, advanced heterogeneous integration schemes for creating high performance, nano-enabled microinductors that are radically different than previous attempts using LIGA or other costly, non-optimal microfabrication techniques. 2 μH output and 500 nH input microinductors for use in a high performance buck converter are showcased. Both inductors have 50 wire turns and less than 1 cm3 form factors. A process flow outlining the steps needed to realize these devices is provided. This flow takes advantage of the molding capabilities of our iron nanocomposite core material, the high electrical conductivity of electroformed copper, and the high-aspect-ratio capabilities of 3D printing and femtosecond laser micromachining. Initial characterization results over frequency are presented for this unique set of power inductors.