Demonstration of a High-Inductance, High-Density, and Low DC Resistance Compact Embedded Toroidal Inductor for IVR

Abstract

Next-generation high-performance computing (HPC) platform requires to run at higher speed with higher power consumption levels. Integrated voltage regulators (IVR) with a conversion ratio of 12 V to 1 V can help to reduce the power distribution network (PDN) impedance, increase the voltage conversion efficiency, and increase the regulation bandwidth. In this work, we present a new package embedded inductor array for multi-phase IVRs with a DC resistance as low as $\mathrm{22}.\mathrm{8}\ \mathrm{m}\Omega$. Inductors with three magnetic materials are demonstrated. With one material a small signal inductance as high as 475 nH is obtained, suitable for 12 V to 1 V conversion at 2 MHz. Another material gives an inductance of 192 nH suitable for 12 V to 1 V IVRs at 5 MHz. Each inductor occupies less than 6.25 mm2 and are built with $\mathrm{400}\ \mu \mathrm{m}$ thick metal polymer composite magnetic sheets. The metric effective AC resistance per unit inductance or $R_{acx}$ is used to predict the inductor performance.