A PCB-Integrated Inductor With an Additively Electrodeposited Laminated NiFe Core for MHz DC–DC Power Conversion

A printed circuit board (PCB) integrated inductor with an additively electrodeposited polypyrrole-laminated nickel-iron (NiFe) core is presented for MHz dc–dc power conversion. The PCB-integrated inductor has a racetrack-shaped winding, which is formed using a standard PCB manufacturing process. Subsequently, multilayers of NiFe and polypyrrole are electrodeposited to wrap a laminated core around the PCB racetrack winding. A 515 nH PCB-integrated inductor is fabricated. The fabricated inductor shows a dc resistance of 290 mΩ and a peak quality factor of 9.6 at 2.1 MHz. The inductor is tested in a 4 MHz buck converter and achieves an inductor efficiency higher than 85.0% over a wide range of output currents (0.15–0.4 A).