EAGER: Processes for Manufacturing High-Performance Magnetic Materials in Electronic Systems

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The objective of this EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award is to develop new manufacturing processes for the magnetic components used in modern electronic systems. The goal is improve the manufacturability, performance, and energy efficiency of power supplies and wireless communication devices, while simultaneously reducing their size and weight. A novel process developed through the work will be used to combine the properties of two different magnetic materials incorporating magnetic particles of one type of material inside of a second material. The result is a new hybrid magnetic material (i.e. a composite of two materials) that exhibits improved material properties compared to existing magnetic materials. In the long run, these new magnetic materials are aimed at enabling next-generation mobile electronics, communication systems, robotics, and medical devices. The project will strengthen an industry/university research partnership between the University of Florida (UF) and Electron Energy Corporation (EEC) and provide a pathway for commercial testing of the methods and materials developed in the work through exchange of technical information and personnel exchanges. In additon, education of UF graduate students on the project will be enriched through their participation in a summer internship at EEC. The project also aims to broaden participation and retention of female and minority students in STEM career fields.Magnetic components used in modern electronic systems require compromising tradeoffs in size, power, and efficiency due to the lack of magnetic materials that simultaneously exhibit high saturation and low loss at MHz to GHz frequencies. To overcome this bottleneck a novel electro-infiltration process is planned, wherein magnetic nanoparticles are consolidated onto a surface, and the inter-particle gaps are filled by an electroplated magnetic material. The result is a two-phase nanocomposite with potentially transformative magnetic properties, along with a disruptive manufacturing technology integrate these materials within a variety of electronic systems. From a scientific standpoint, the electro-infiltration process provides a unique platform to fabricate new nanocomposite architectures. This enables fundamental exploration of exchange-coupled or nanogranular soft magnetic cores, as well as hard (permanent) magnetic materials. The long-term impact of this work would be a scalable, end-to-end manufacturing process for compact magnetic device components with exceptional performance, low manufacturing cost, and integration with other electronic devices. The specific aims of this one-year EAGER project are to validate the feasibility of the process, while beginning to optimize micro/nanofabrication methods and elucidate structure/property/performance relationships for these new electro-infiltrated nanocomposite magnetic materials.