Comparison of Different Inductor Designs based on Litz Wire, Foil and PCB based Windings for DC-DC Converter Operating into DCM Mode

Operation of a DC-DC converter into DCM mode allows reduce needed value of inductance. In that case the current does not have DC component and the losses in magnetic core and windings are increased, especially, if the switching frequency is high. Therefore, proper design of the inductor is important. The windings of the inductor can be made from multiple wires in parallel, Litz wire, foil, or integrated into PCB. In each case, magnetic component needs to be optimized regarding material and manufacturing cost and to reduce size and losses. In this paper, it is proposed inductor design, where the winding is integrated into the PCB, this inductor is compared with two other designs where Litz wire and foil windings are used. The measurement results of developed inductor are shown in the paper.