Patent Grant
9837208
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-006121, filed on Jan. 16, 2014, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The embodiments discussed herein are related to an inductor apparatus and an inductor apparatus manufacturing method.
An inductor apparatus is used in a power-supply circuit and the like.
Related art is discussed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-233469, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-21996, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-150490, Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2008-537355, or International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2007/129526.
According to an aspect of the embodiments, an inductor apparatus includes: a substrate including an electrical insulation property and a non-magnetic material; and a plurality of inductors disposed in the substrate so as to extend from a first surface of the substrate to a second surface of the substrate, each of the plurality of inductors including: an inductor conductive part that has an electrical conductivity and extends in a thickness direction of the substrate; and a magnetic layer that covers a side of the inductor conductive part and include a relative permeability and a soft magnetic material.
The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
As integrated circuits are miniaturized with higher performance, the voltage supplied to the integrated circuits is lowered. In addition, to reduce power consumption, the power management granularity is refined, and the responsivity of supplied power is improved with respect to the power supply.
A power supply method referred to as a point of load (POL) power supply is provided.
When a POL power supply is used, the power supply is disposed adjacent to an integrated circuit, which is a load. When the power supply is disposed adjacent to the integrated circuit to which power is supplied, a substrate resistance, parasitic capacity, or parasitic inductance that may be generated between the power supply and integrated circuit is reduced, and the response speed is improved.
For example, a step-down DC-DC converter is used as the POL power supply.
The DC-DC converter illustrated in
A source S of the high-side transistor T1 and a drain D of the low-side transistor T2 are coupled with an inductor L. The inductor L is disposed for each phase. The output from the inductor L in each phase is coupled with an output wiring M3 that is coupled with a load R via a capacitive element C. The load R and the capacitive element C are coupled with the ground wiring M2 via a wiring M4.
The DC-DC converter illustrated in
When high-output power supplies are desired, the DC-DC converter may have several dozen to several hundred phases.
When high-output power supplies are desired while there is a demand for small-sized POL power supplies, pairs of transistors and inductors are disposed in line with the number of phases.
Miniaturization technologies for semiconductor devices may be applied to small-sizing of transistors.
On the other hand, for small-sizing of inductors, to dispose a plurality of inductors in high density, chip inductors or thin-film pattern inductors may be used.
Because the chip inductors are mounted to a circuit substrate externally, there may be a limitation on high-density mounting.
When the thin-film pattern inductors are used, because the width of a thin-film pattern is large so that a large current is flown in response to high output, there may be a limitation on high-density mounting. When magnetic film cores are used together with conductive coil patterns to improve an inductance, a manufacturing process may be complicated.
In response to higher responsivity and small-sizing of POL power supplies, a switching frequency for a control signal to be input to a gate of a transistor is set high, and therefore an inductor may have a high inductance.
An inductor apparatus 10 includes a inductor substrate 11 that has an electrical insulation property and is of a non-magnetic material, and a plurality of inductors 12 disposed in the inductor substrate 11 so as to extend from a first surface 11a to a second surface 11b of the inductor substrate 11.
Each inductor 12 includes an inductor conductive part 12a that has an electrical conductivity and extends in a thickness direction of the inductor substrate 11, and a magnetic layer 12b that covers a side of the inductor conductive part 12a, has a relative permeability of 5000 or more, and includes a soft magnetic material.
Each inductor conductive part 12a has a vertically long columnar shape. Both end surfaces in a longitudinal direction are exposed from the first surface 11a and the second surface 11b of the inductor substrate 11.
Each magnetic layer 12b is disposed so as to cover a side of the columnar-shaped inductor conductive part 12a, and has a hollow cylindrical shape.
The inductor apparatus 10 includes a first conductive part 14 that has an electrical conductivity and extends from the first surface 11a to the second surface 11b of the inductor substrate 11. The first conductive part 14 has a vertically long columnar shape, and both end surfaces in a longitudinal direction are exposed from the first surface 11a and the second surface 11b of the inductor substrate 11.
The inductor apparatus 10 includes a connection conductive layer 13 that is disposed on the second surface 11b of the inductor substrate 11 and electrically couples the end of each inductor conductive part 12a on the side of the second surface 11b in parallel. The connection conductive layer 13 electrically couples the end of the first conductive part 14 on the side of the second surface 11b and the ends of the inductor conductive parts 12a on the side of the second surface 11b. A current flowing through the plurality of inductors 12 flows to the first conductive part 14 via the connection conductive layer 13. Therefore, the diameter or cross-sectional area of the first conductive part 14 may be formed to be larger than that of each inductor conductive part 12a such that resistance of the first conductive part 14 is low.
The inductor apparatus 10 may be used as, for example, an inductor for a POL power supply having a plurality of phases.
A power-supply apparatus 1 may be a DC-DC converter for a POL power supply, and steps down externally input DC power and supplies an adjacent CPU 40 with the DC power that has been stepped down.
The power-supply apparatus 1 includes the inductor apparatus 10 and a power drive part 30 that is coupled with each inductor 12 of the inductor apparatus 10 via a bump B. The power drive part 30 has phases corresponding to the number of inductors 12 of the inductor apparatus 10. The power drive part 30 has a pair of a high-side transistor and a low-side transistor for each inductor 12. Sources of the high-side transistors and drains of the low-side transistors are coupled with the inductors 12 via the bumps B. A control signal having a certain switching frequency is input to gates of the high-side transistors and the low-side transistors.
The power-supply apparatus 1 includes a connection apparatus 20 that electrically couples the inductor apparatus 10 with the CPU 40. The connection apparatus 20 includes an electrically insulating connection substrate 21, and a second conductive part 15 and a third conductive part 22 that have an electrical conductivity and are disposed in the connection substrate 21 so as to extend from a first surface 21a to a second surface 21b of the connection substrate 21. The second conductive part 15 and the third conductive part 22 have a vertically long columnar shape. Both end surfaces in a longitudinal direction are exposed from the first surface 21a and the second surface 21b of the connection substrate 21.
The connection apparatus 20 includes a wiring layer 24 that is disposed on the second surface 21b of the connection substrate 21 and electrically couples the end of the second conductive part 15 on the side of the second surface 21b and the end of the third conductive part 22 on the side of the second surface 21b.
The end of the second conductive part 15 on the side of the first surface 21a is electrically coupled with a ground terminal GND of the power drive part 30 via the bump B.
The end of the third conductive part 22 on the side of the first surface 21a is electrically coupled with a ground terminal GND of the CPU 40 via the bump B.
The connection conductive layer 13 of the inductor apparatus 10 is electrically coupled with the wiring layer 24 of the connection apparatus 20 via a capacitive element 31.
The end of the first conductive part 14 of the inductor apparatus 10 on the side of the first surface 11a is electrically coupled with a power input terminal Vin of the CPU 40 via a wiring layer 16 and the bump B.
When the power-supply apparatus 1 illustrated in
As illustrated in
The magnetic layers 12b may include a soft magnetic material. The soft magnetic material is a magnetic material with a small coercive force and a large relative permeability. To enable the inductor 12 to have a high inductance and operate at a high switching frequency, the relative permeability of the magnetic layer 12b may be 5000 or more. From this viewpoint, the relative permeability of the magnetic layer 12b may be 10000 or more, specifically, 20000 or more, or more specifically, 30000 or more. In view of a material of the magnetic layer 12b to be actually used, the upper limit of the relative permeability of the magnetic layer 12b may be approximately 50000.
As a saturation magnetization becomes higher, a larger amount of current is flown through the inductor 12 to operate the inductor 12 without causing magnetic saturation. Therefore, the saturation magnetization of the magnetic layer 12b may be 0.6 T or more, specifically, 0.8 T or more, or more specifically, 1.2 T or more. For example, when the saturation magnetization of the magnetic layer 12b is 0.6 T or more, the inductor may operate without magnetic saturation even if a current of 1 A is flown through the inductor conductive part 12a with a diameter of 50 mm. In view of a material of the magnetic layer 12b to be actually used, the upper limit of the saturation magnetization of the magnetic layer 12b may be approximately 2 T.
Even if the inductor 12 is driven at a high switching frequency, a current is confined to the inductor conductive part 12a to reduce resistance in the inductor 12. Therefore, the resistivity of the magnetic layer 12b may be 10 times or more, or specifically, 50 times or more the resistivity of the inductor conductive part 12a. For example, when the inductor conductive part 12a is formed by Cu (with a resistivity of 1.68E−8 Ω·m), the resistivity of the magnetic layer 12b may be 1.68E−7 Ω·m or more.
Because the inductor 12 may operate at a high switching frequency, the coercive force of the magnetic layer 12b may be 800 A/m or less, or specifically, 2 A/m or less. In view of a material of the magnetic layer 12b to be actually used, the lower limit of the coercive force of the magnetic layer 12b may be approximately 2 A/m.
With a switching frequency of 1 MHz or more, if the thickness of the magnetic layer 12b is larger than 10 μm, an eddy current generated in the magnetic layer 12b becomes larger. In addition, with a switching frequency of 100 MHz or more, if the thickness of the magnetic layer 12b is larger than 1 μm, an eddy current generated in the magnetic layer 12b becomes larger. Therefore, the thickness of the magnetic layer 12b may be 10 μm or less, or specifically, 1 μm or less. In view of the mechanical strength of the magnetic layer 12b, the lower limit of the thickness of the magnetic layer 12b may be approximately 0.1 μm.
As a forming material of the magnetic layer 12b, a Fe—Ni alloy such as permalloy, a Fe—Co alloy, soft magnetic ferrite, or the like may be used, for example. From a viewpoint of a large relative permeability and saturation magnetization, permalloy may be used. From a viewpoint of a high resistivity, ferrite may be used.
The inductor conductive part 12a may not have a magnetic property. The relative permeability of the inductor conductive part 12a may be close to 1.
To allow a current to flow through the inductor conductive part 12a easily to reduce a power loss, the resistivity of the inductor conductive part 12a may be low. For example, the resistivity of the inductor conductive part 12a may be 1E−7 Ω·m or less, or more specifically, 5E−8 Ω·m or less.
As a forming material of the inductor conductive part 12a, Cu, Al, an alloy of them (brass, phosphor bronze, or Al—Si alloy), or the like may be used, for example.
The relative permeability and resistivity of the inductor 12 may be controlled by the cross-sectional area of the inductor conductive part 12a and the thickness, forming material, heat treatment conditions, or the like of the magnetic layer 12b.
If the inductor substrate 11 has a magnetic property, a parasitic inductance may be generated in the inductor substrate 11, possibly affecting operation of the power supply. Therefore, the inductor substrate 11 may not have a magnetic property. The relative permeability of the inductor substrate 11 may be close to 1.
To suppress a parasitic capacity of the inductor substrate 11 and reduce a power loss, the relative permittivity of the inductor substrate 11 may be 10 or less, or more specifically, 6 or less.
To suppress a leak current to reduce a power loss, the resistivity of the inductor substrate 11 may be high. For example, the resistivity of the inductor substrate 11 may be 1E−7 Ω·m or more.
When the relative permeability of the magnetic layer 12b is changed, the inductance of the inductor 12 changes in a range from several nH to several hundred nH.
In a wide range of the relative permeability, the resistance of the inductor 12 may be set to 3 mΩ or less.
In the inductor apparatus 10, for example, when each inductor 12 has the inductor conductive part 12a that is 50 μm in diameter and the magnetic layer 12b that is 1 μm in thickness, and the inductors 12 are disposed in an array form at a spacing of 100 μm, a high-density arrangement of 100 inductors/mm2 is provided.
As described above, in the inductor apparatus 10, the inductors 12 with a high inductance and a low resistance may be disposed in high density.
The horizontal axis of
Because there is a large difference in relative permeability between the magnetic layer 12b and the inductor conductive part 12a, the magnetic field is confined to the magnetic layer 12b as illustrated in
The horizontal axis of
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
For the output voltage and output power, the response time at rising and fallings edges is 50 ns or less. In response to abrupt load fluctuations, the voltage and frequency are controlled dynamically.
The inductor apparatus may have a high inductance and a low resistivity, and may have a small size at which the inductors are disposed in high density. The power supply manufactured using the inductor apparatus may have a high power conversion efficiency and a high responsivity.
As illustrated in
The plurality of inductor conductive parts 12a are degreased with an organic solvent (acetone or methanol, for example), and pickled to activate the surfaces. Then, plating with a magnetic layer is performed. For example, the plating may be performed using permalloy (Fe:Ni=22:78) as a magnetic layer with a thickness of 0.1 to 0.5 μm. The plating may be performed with a direct current plating method using a Ni plate as an anode and a Fe plate as a cathode, at room temperature (21° C.) with a current density of 5 to 20 mA/cm2. For a boric-acid plating bath, 0.7 mol/L of NiSO4, 0.2 mol/L of NiCl2, 0.3 mol/L of FeSO4, 0.4 mol/L of boric acid, and 0.014 mol/L of saccharin may be used.
For example, as an additive agent, saccharin may be used, or sodium lauryl sulfate or the like may be used. As a plating method, a direct current plating method, pulse plating method, or alternating current plating method may be used. The magnetic layer 12b may be formed with plating using CoFe series or CoNi series.
The relative permeability of the inductor 12 plated with the magnetic layer 12b may be approximately 1000. The inductance of the inductor 12 increases as the magnetic layer 12b increases in thickness. However, with an increase in thickness, a power loss caused by an eddy current increases.
After a magnetic layer is formed on a surface of an electrically conductive wire with a plating method, the inductor 12 may be formed by cutting the wire to a certain length.
The plurality of inductors 12 are heat-treated such that the magnetic layer 12b of each inductor 12 has a relative permeability of 5000 or more.
The inductor 12 is heat-treated at a temperature of 400° C. to 700° C. for 1 to 10 hours in a reducing atmosphere (for example, in hydrogen, nitrogen, a vacuum, or the like), and is then allowed to cool slowly. Accordingly, distortion in the magnetic layer 12b is relaxed and the relative permeability of the magnetic layer 12b is improved. The relative permeability of the heat-treated magnetic layer 12b may be improved to approximately 30000. In a thin-film inductor that has a conductive coil pattern and magnetic film core, distortion occurs due to a difference in thermal expansion coefficient between a substrate and magnetic film, and it may therefore be difficult to improve a relative permeability with heat treatment.
As illustrated in
After the plurality of first conductive parts 14 are distributed on the lower mold 50, the lower mold 50 is vibrated and one or some of the first conductive parts 14 is dropped into the recess 50a. The remaining first conductive parts 14 may be collected.
As illustrated in
After the plurality of inductors 12 are distributed on the lower mold 50, the lower mold 50 is vibrated and one or some of the inductors 12 are dropped into the recesses 50b. The remaining inductors 12 may be collected. Because the first conductive part 14 has already been disposed in the large recess 50a, the inductor 12 may not be disposed in the large recess 50a. As described above, the plurality of inductors 12 are disposed in the lower mold 50 aligning the longitudinal direction and with a spacing.
As illustrated in
Under reduced pressure, a resin 51 that has an electrical insulation property and is of a non-magnetic material is injected between the plurality of inductors 12. When the resin 51 is injected between the plurality of inductors 12 under reduced pressure, bubbles included in the resin 51 may be reduced. The resin 51 is injected into the space formed between the upper mold 52 and the lower mold 50.
As the resin 51, a light curing resin may be used. The upper mold 52 may be formed using a material that transmits light with which the resin 51 is irradiated to cure the resin 51.
When the resin 51 is cured by irradiating the resin 51 with light from above the upper mold 52, the inductor substrate 11 that supports the plurality of inductors 12 is formed.
As the resin 51, a light curing resin may be used, or an epoxy resin that is cured by mixing two liquids may be used. In this case, a material that transmits light may not be used for the upper mold 52, and a durable material such as a metal may be used.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The inductor apparatus 10 that includes the 0.3 mm-long inductor 12 having the 0.5 μm-thick magnetic layer 12b may be formed. The inductor 12 may have a resistance of 0.5 mΩ and an inductance of 20 nH.
The inductance of the inductor 12 may be adjusted by changing the diameter of the inductor conductive part 12a, the Fe:Ni ratio of permalloy, the thickness of the magnetic layer 12b, heat treatment conditions, or the like.
In the inductor apparatus manufacturing method, when the magnetic layer 12b of the inductor 12 is heat-treated, the relative permeability of the magnetic layer 12b may be enhanced to 5000 or more and a high inductance may be obtained. A small-sized inductor apparatus may be manufactured with ease.
As the block 60, a Cu block may be used. The conductive complex 61 may be formed by etching or grinding the block 60.
As illustrated in
The conductive complex 61 having the plurality of inductors 12 is heat-treated such that the magnetic layers 12b of the plurality of the inductors 12 have a relative permeability of 5000 or more.
As illustrated in
The first bonding layer 63 bonds the support 62 and the second bonding layer 64. The second bonding layer 64 bonds the first bonding layer 63 and the connection conductive layer 13.
The first bonding layer 63 may have bonding strength anisotropy in which the bonding strength of the support 62 in a planar direction is strong but the bonding strength of the support 62 in a vertical direction is weak. The connection conductive layer 13, to which the second bonding layer 64 is bonded, may be detached easily from the support 62, to which the first bonding layer 63 is bonded, by separating the connection conductive layer 13 in the vertical direction. As the first bonding layer 63, for example, a bonding layer may be used on which a projection that has a plurality of openings on an adhesive surface is disposed.
As a forming material of the support 62, a metal plate such as a Si substrate, glass substrate, aluminum plate, stainless plate, or a copper plate, a polyimide film, a printed substrate, or the like may be used, for example. As a film for forming the bonding layer, a polyimide resin, silicone resin, fluorine resin, or the like may be used, for example. As an adhesive that gives a bonding property to the bonding layer, an epoxy resin, acrylic resin, polyimide resin, silicone resin, urethane resin, or the like may be used.
To bond the conductive complex 61 on the support 62, to which the first bonding layer 63 and the second bonding layer 64 are bonded, a flip-chip bonder may be used, for example.
A separately formed wiring layer 24a having the second conductive part 15, together with the conductive complex 61, is bonded to the support 62 via the first bonding layer 63 and the second bonding layer 64.
As illustrated in
The resin 65 may include an inorganic filler. As the inorganic filler, particles of alumina, silica, aluminum hydroxide, or aluminum nitride may be used, for example.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
After a conductive complex continuum may be formed in which a plurality of conductive complexes are coupled by connection conductive layers and the wiring layers, individual inductor apparatuses may be formed by cutting the connection conductive layers and the wiring layers.
In the inductor apparatus manufacturing method illustrated in
Magnetic layers may be formed on the entire conductive complex, or magnetic layers may be formed on portions that include inductor conductive parts.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Subsequent processes may be substantially the same as or similar to the processes in the inductor apparatus manufacturing method illustrated in
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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