Impact of PCB track shape on HF copper losses of planar magnetic components

Planar technology is an interesting solution for high frequency (HF) magnetic components in power electronic converters. Over the past few decades, the trend is increasingly towards these integrated magnetic components with high power density, especially for embedded systems, automotive and avionics devices. In order to design optimized planar inductances or transformers any aspect of the component's geometry is important. This paper is focused on one of these aspects: the track shape of copper conductors made of Printed Circuit Board (PCB). Three designs of conventional tracks are simulated by 3D Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to calculate the dynamic (AC) resistances and their resistive factor. Different combinations of these elementary tracks are tested and the influence of the turn shape is highlighted.