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

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目将开发使用磁性薄膜功率电感器的集成DC-DC功率转换器。当前，微处理器和片上系统（SoC）由从分立组件组装的板级电压调节器供电。随着数字集成电路（IC）的电源电压已经缩放，这种功率输送范例已经变得越来越低效，因为功率是通过功率输送网络（PDN）的电阻以低电压和高电流输送的。在以1V输送100 W的典型情况下，所输送的总功率的10%可能浪费在PDN的电阻中。该项目的目标是商业化的功率转换器，利用电感器与精确设计的高磁导率磁性材料叠片。这将显著提高电源转换器的电流密度，并随后使微处理器和片上系统的电源能够在同一封装中或甚至在同一管芯上进行下变频。这类新型集成稳压器（IVR）通过降低阻性损耗和改进电源管理技术，可将数字IC的总功耗降低多达20%。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是降低从智能手机到数据中心的所有数字计算平台的功耗。据估计，仅在美国，这种新技术的总节能潜力就达到150亿千瓦时;这相当于大约1000万公吨的二氧化碳排放量。该技术还将显著减少数字IC的物理占用空间，从而显著降低各类计算平台的外形尺寸。采用集成磁性薄膜电感器的电压调节器将具有优于其他市售电压调节器产品的成本和性能优势。因此，这项技术预计将对全球100亿美元的电压调节器市场产生相当大的影响。此外，磁性材料与互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）技术的集成将促进其他基于磁性的系统的进步，例如磁性滤波器、传感器和成像器。同样，从利用CMOS技术将磁性材料工艺模块商业化中获得的经验将降低其他形式的异质集成的技术障碍。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II 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 100 W is delivered at 1 V, 10% of the total power delivered may be wasted in the resistance of the PDN. The objective of this 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 to be down-converted in the same package, or even on the same die. This new class of integrated voltage regulators (IVRs) will provide as much as a 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 smartphones to data centers. 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 physical 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 Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) technology 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.