Magnetic characterization technique and materials comparison for very high frequency IVR

To efficiently power multi-core processors in today's computing devices, integrated voltage regulator (IVR) shows significant energy saving ability by dynamic voltage and frequency scaling. One key aspect in developing IVR is to design power inductors with small size and small loss at very high frequency. However, the challenge in very high frequency magnetic characterization is a major obstacle to accurately design and test the IVR inductors. In this work, the magnetic characterization technique at tens of MHz is investigated, and the issue and solution in permeability and loss measurement are demonstrated. The LTCC and NEC flake materials are characterized and compared at very high frequency for IVR inductor design.