Thin surface mounting type inductor and its application (high-performance inductor)

In recent years there have been increasing demands for the power supplies of microprocessors to supply a high current at a low voltage while maintaining a favorable load response performance. This in turn requires inductors for use as dc-dc converters to have low winding resistance and low inductance. Consequently, these inductors now incorporate many vertical-structure parts due to low production costs. Assuming further miniaturization of electronic equipment and components, however, vertical parts are likely to be adversely affected by the expanding magnetic field that interlinks with the winding region. We performed magnetic field analysis on a new method of decreasing the interlinking magnetic fluxes in the winding region by improving the core structure and winding technique. It was found that, by providing a number of windings on a laterally structured core and by connecting them cumulatively, the magnetic fields induced in the gap areas could be removed from the winding region. This inductor proved to yield an outstanding low-loss performance when used as a dc-dc converter for high-frequency operation.