Surface-Mount Inductor Structures for Reduced Substrate Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing manufacturing processes for inductors in integrated circuit packages are complex and require a large substrate thickness, making them costly and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
The development of surface-mount inductor structures that utilize a core and strips of conductive material with SMT contacts, which can be easily mounted on a substrate and formed into inductive coils using traces, allowing for the creation of multiple inductors with reduced complexity and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multi-layer inductors are integrated into circuit board by drilling holes and metal fill, then inductors can be integrated into IC package, but manufacturing process becomes complex and substrate thickness requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the inductor structure from the complex multi-layer integrated approach and implements it as a surface-mount component. The inductor is designed as a separate entity with surface-mount contacts that can be mounted on the circuit board surface, eliminating the need for complex hole drilling and metal fill operations while maintaining integration capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of integrating inductors by drilling holes through the substrate (conventional approach), the patent inverts the approach by using surface-mount technology where inductors are mounted on the surface and connected through trace patterns. This reversal simplifies the manufacturing process while achieving the same integration goal.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multi-layer inductors are integrated into circuit board by drilling holes and metal fill, then inductors can be integrated into IC package, but substrate thickness requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the inductor structure from the multi-layer substrate integration approach and implements it as a surface-mount component. This allows the inductor to be mounted on the surface of a thinner substrate, connected through trace patterns, eliminating the need for thick substrates required for hole drilling and multi-layer metal fill operations.
3Ease of manufacture
If surface-mount inductor structures are used with core and conductive strips, then manufacturing process is simplified, but inductor formation complexity may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the inductor into distinct functional components: a core structure and separate conductive strips wrapped around it. This segmentation simplifies manufacturing by allowing each component to be fabricated independently using standard surface-mount techniques, while the overall structure remains relatively simple compared to multi-layer integrated inductors.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the manufacturing process, reduces substrate thickness requirements, and enables the efficient formation of various inductor configurations, including transformers, for applications like voltage regulation, while maintaining high magnetic flux and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
strips of conductive material... formed into inductive coils... maintaining high magnetic flux and efficiency
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards an inductor structure having one or more strips of conductive material disposed around a core. The strips may have contacts at a first end and a second end of the strips, and may be disposed around the core with a gap between the contacts. The inductor structure may be mounted on a surface of a substrate, and one or more traces may be formed in the surface of the substrate to electrically couple two or more of the strips of conductive material to one another to form inductive coils. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.