SBIR Phase I: Integrated DC-DC Converters Using Thin-film Magnetic Power Inductors

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发使用磁性薄膜功率电感的集成DC-DC功率转换器。目前，微处理器和片上系统（soc）使用由分立元件组装的板级稳压器供电。由于数字集成电路（ic）的电源电压已经缩放，由于在低电压和高电流下通过电力输送网络（PDN）的电阻输送电力，这种电力输送模式变得越来越低效。在1V下输出100W的典型情况下，总输出功率的10%可能会浪费在PDN的电阻上。这个SBIR项目的目标是将利用电感器和精确设计的高磁导率磁性材料分层的功率转换器商业化。这将使功率转换器电流密度显著提高，并随后使微处理器和片上系统（soc）的电源在同一封装中甚至在同一芯片上进行下转换。这种新型集成稳压器（ivr）将通过减少电阻损耗和改进电源管理技术，使数字ic的总功耗降低20%。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是减少所有数字计算平台的功耗，从智能手机到数据中心。仅在美国，这种新型技术的总节能潜力估计为150亿千瓦时，这相当于大约1000万公吨的二氧化碳排放量。该技术还将大大减少数字ic的占地面积，从而大大减少所有类型的计算平台的形状因素。使用集成磁性薄膜电感的电压调节器将比其他市售电压调节器产品具有成本和性能优势。因此，这项技术预计将对100亿美元的全球电压调节器市场产生相当大的影响。此外，磁性材料与CMOS的集成将促进其他磁性系统的进步，如磁滤波器、传感器和成像仪。同样，利用CMOS技术将磁性材料工艺模块商业化所获得的经验将降低其他形式异构集成的技术壁垒。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop integrated DC-DC power converters using magnetic thin-film power inductors. Currently, microprocessors and systems-on-chip (SoCs) are powered with board level voltage regulators assembled from discrete components. As supply voltages have scaled for digital integrated circuits (ICs), this power delivery paradigm has become increasingly inefficient, as power is delivered through the resistance of the power delivery network (PDN) at low voltages and high currents. In a typical case where 100W is delivered at 1V, 10% of the total power delivered may be wasted in the resistance of the PDN. The objective of this SBIR project is to commercialize power converters utilizing inductors with precisely engineered laminations of high permeability magnetic material. This will enable a significant improvement in power converter current density and subsequently enable power supplies for microprocessors and systems on chip (SoCs) to be downconverted in the same package, or even on the same die. This new class of integrated voltage regulators (IVRs), will provide as much as 20% reduction in total power consumption for digital ICs by reducing resistive losses and enabling improved power management techniques. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is a reduction in power consumption for all digital computing platforms, ranging from smart-phones to datacenters. The total energy savings potential for this new class of technology is estimated at 15 billion kWh within the United States alone, this is equivalent to roughly 10 million metric tons of CO2 emissions. This technology will also significantly reduce the footprint for digital ICs enabling a significant reduction in form-factor for all classes of computing platforms. Voltage regulators utilizing integrated magnetic thin-film inductors will have cost and performance advantages over the other voltage regulator products that are commercially available. Therefore this technology is expected to have a sizeable impact on the $10 billion worldwide voltage regulator market. Furthermore, the integration of magnetic materials with CMOS will facilitate advances in other magnetic based systems, such as magnetic filters, sensors and imagers. Likewise, the experience gained from commercializing a magnetic material process module with CMOS technology will lower the technological barriers for other forms of heterogeneous integration.