Design of Magnetic Transceivers for 3-D Integrated Circuits

Use of magnetic film inductors as transceiver elements for wireless transfer of power and signal communication between vertically stacked silicon integrated circuits is discussed. Two characteristic designs are compared—a vertical magnetic core with high-aspect-ratio laminations and a planar magnetic core where flux closure is achieved by a suitable design of the interchip air gap. The latter design is argued to hold a promise for 3-D circuit integration.