Patent Application
20190333672
The present disclosure generally relates to integrated inductors, and more particularly to integrated inductors having a high quality factor (Q factor).
A conventional integrated inductor comprises a coil laid out on a metal layer secured by a dielectric slab attached on a substrate. A high Q factor is usually highly desirable for an integrated inductor, as it is a measure of how effectively the integrated inductor preserves energy. A substrate loss usually leads to appreciable energy loss and thus degradation of the Q factor. The substrate loss includes both Ohmic loss and Eddy current loss. The Ohmic loss results from an electric field coupling between the coil and the substrate, while the Eddy current loss results from a magnetic field coupling. A shielding structure can be inserted between the coil and the substrate on another metal layer housed by the dielectric slab to reduce electric and/or magnetic field coupling and thus substrate loss. However, the shielding structure itself could lead to energy loss of itself. To prevent Eddy current loss on the shielding structure of itself, the shielding structure is often configured to be perpendicular to the integrated inductor as seen from a top view. This arrangement greatly reduces magnetic field coupling between the coil and the shielding structure and thus the Eddy current loss on the shielding structure, but provides almost no help in reducing the magnetic field coupling between the coil and the substrate. Therefore, the shielding structure provides almost no help in reducing the Eddy current loss in the substrate.
What is desired is a shielding structure that not only has very little energy loss of itself, but also helps to reduce both the Ohmic loss and the Eddy current loss of the substrate.
In an embodiment, a device comprises: a substrate; a dielectric slab attached upon the substrate; a coil including a plurality of metal segments laid out on a first metal layer secured by the dielectric slab, the coil being substantially laterally symmetrical with respect to a central line from a top view perspective; and a shield laid out on a second metal layer secured by the dielectric slab and configured in a tree topology, the shield being substantially laterally symmetrical with respect to the central line from the top view perspective, the tree topology including a plurality of clusters of branches, wherein each of said plurality of clusters of branches is associated with a respective metal segment of the coil and includes a primary branch and at least one set of secondary branches that are branched from the primary branch, parallel to one another, and oriented at a substantially forty-five-degree angle with respect to the respective metal segment as seen from the top view.
In an embodiment, a method includes the following steps: attaching a dielectric slab on top of a substrate; deploying a coil including a plurality of metal segments laid out on a first metal layer secured by the dielectric slab, the coil being substantially laterally symmetrical with respect to a central line from a top view perspective; and deploying a shield on a second metal layer secured by the dielectric slab, wherein: the shield is configured in a tree topology and substantially laterally symmetrical with respect to the central line from the top view perspective, the tree topology includes a plurality of clusters of branches, and each of said plurality of clusters of branches is associated with a respective metal segment of the coil and includes a primary branch and at least one set of secondary branches that are branched from the primary branch, parallel to one another, and oriented at a substantially forty-five degree angle with respect to the respective metal segment as seen from the top view.
The present disclosure is directed to integrated inductors. While the specification describes several example embodiments of the disclosure considered favorable modes of practicing the invention, it will be understood by persons skilled in the art that the invention can be implemented in many ways and is not limited to the particular examples described below or to the particular manner in which any features of such examples are implemented. In other instances, well-known details are not shown or described to avoid obscuring aspects of the disclosure.
Persons of ordinary skill in the art understand terms and basic concepts related to microelectronics that are used in this disclosure, such as “substrate,” “dielectric slab,” “inductor,” “electric field coupling,” “magnetic field coupling,” “current,” “voltage,” “Ohmic loss,” “Eddy current,” “AC (alternate current) ground,” “differential signaling.” Terms and basic concepts like these are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and thus will not be explained in detail here.
This disclosure is presented in an engineering sense, instead of a rigorous mathematical sense. For instance, “A is zero” means “A is smaller than an engineering tolerance of interest.”
As illustrated by a cross-sectional view shown in box 110 in
As shown in callout box 121, for instance, cluster C3 comprises a primary branch PB, a first set of secondary branches A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5 that are branched from the primary branch PB and parallel to one another, and a second set of branches B1, B2, B3, B4, and B5 that are also branched from the primary branch PB and parallel to one another. All branches, primary or secondary, are thin metal lines. Each cluster (of branches) of the shield SX is associated with a metal segment of the coil CX. For instance, cluster C1 (C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9) is associated with metal segment S1 (S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9). All secondary branches within a cluster are oriented at substantially a 45 degree-angle with respect to the metal segment that the cluster is associated with. For instance, all secondary branches of cluster C3 are oriented at a 45-degree angle with respect to metal segment S3. Since all the secondary branches of a cluster are at a 45-degree angle with respect to the metal segment that the cluster is associated with, a certain magnetic field coupling takes place between the metal segment and the associated cluster, which helps to provide a certain degree of shielding and mitigate a magnetic field coupling between the metal segment and the substrate 114. As a result, an Eddy current loss on the substrate 114 is reduced. Although the magnetic field coupling between the cluster and the associated metal segment could induce an Eddy current on the cluster and lead to energy loss, the Eddy current loss is very small as a result of the tree topology of the shield SX, wherein most metal lines within are localized within a cluster and all metal lines are open-ended branches and therefore a long loop of current conduction path is avoided. All primary branches emanate from a center point CT (see inside box 120 in
Each of clusters C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, and C8 has two sets of secondary branches that are substantially balanced with respect to the primary branch therein. In contrast, each of clusters C1 and C9 has only one set of secondary branches branched out from one side of the primary branch therein. This arrangement is chosen based on convenience, instead of technical constraint.
Note that if the secondary branches were perpendicular to the associated metal segment, they would provide almost no magnetic field isolation and thus no help in reducing the Eddy loss of the substrate. On the other hand, if the secondary branches were parallel to the associated metal segment, the magnetic field isolation would be strong, but the shield itself might have led to appreciable Eddy current loss. In comparison, using clustered, substantially a 45-degree angled, open-ended branches helps to reduce the Eddy current loss of the substrate, but causes very little Eddy current loss of itself, and thus realizes the preferred arrangement.
Integrated inductor 100 is a single-turn inductor, but the technique of using a tree-structured shield with clustered branches that are oriented at a 45-degree angle with respect to associated metal segments of the inductor can be applied to many embodiments of an integrated inductor.
As illustrated by a flow diagram 200 shown in
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
