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PowerMEMS 2013 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 476 (2013) 012053 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/476/1/012053

Modeling and analysis of silicon-embedded MEMS

toroidal inductors
M. Araghchini1 and J. H. Lang1
1
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. This paper presents the modeling and analysis of three-dimensional silicon-
embedded toroidal inductors designed for power converter applications. Special attention is
given to modeling phenomena associated with the presence of silicon, namely an increase in
loss and parasitic capacitance. Silicon-embedded inductors can be fabricated with silicon inside
the donut-shaped toroidal core and inside the donut hole, as well as with silicon above, below
and outside the inductor. It is argued here that, with the exception of the losses in the core
at high doping densities, the losses in the silicon can be tolerated in many power applications,
making fully-integrated silicon-embedded air-core inductors viable for power applications. An
equivalent circuit model is presented for such inductors which captures the stored magnetic
energy, the parasitic electric energy stored between the windings and the silicon, the loss in the
toroidal windings, and the electrically- and magnetically-driven losses inside the silicon. The
model developed here is verified against experimental data, and the comparison shows a good
match over the frequency range of interest to power electronics applications.

1. Introduction
Efforts to embed microfabricated solenoidal and toroidal inductors were previously reported in
[1, 2] where fabrication limitations led to low inductances near several nH. Additionally, the
inductors were widely separated from the surrounding silicon or suspended on a membrane
over an open cavity to minimize losses [2]. Higher inductance and less restrictive fabrication is
required for next-generation integrated power converters operating at frequencies near 10-100
MHz [3]. Correspondingly, this paper focuses on embedded inductors such as those fabricated
more tightly within a deep recess in the silicon substrate as reported recently in [4]. There,
a 50-nH inductor was demonstrated; its inductance was extendable to hundreds of nH using
more turns. Analytic models for such inductors are essential for understanding the impact of
their surrounding silicon, and for their optimized design. Models of the stored magnetic energy,
the winding conduction loss, and the losses induced by adjacent windings have already been
developed in [5, 6] for non-embedded inductors. These models can also be used for silicon-
embedded inductors. Therefore, this paper focuses on modeling the additional phenomena that
arise due to the presence of the silicon substrate. This includes losses in the silicon and increased
parasitic capacitance. The original and extended models are combined to form an equivalent
circuit model for silicon-embedded inductors.

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PowerMEMS 2013 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 476 (2013) 012053 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/476/1/012053

(a) (b)

Figure 1. (a) Poloidal and toroidal directions in a microfabricated toroidal inductor; image
from [5]. (b) Cross section of a silicon-embedded toroidal inductor. Not shown is a thin oxide
layer having thickness ∆ between the winding conductors (orange and yellow), winding vias
(blue) and silicon substrate (gray).

2. Losses
As seen in Figure 1(a), the winding in a toroidal inductor spirals around the toroidal core in
the poloidal direction as the spiral progresses in the toroidal direction. Thus, there exists a
single-turn toroidal current which creates poloidal flux outside the toroidal core and a multi-
turn poloidal current which creates toroidal flux through the toroidal core. Both fluxes drive
currents and hence losses in the silicon. Additionally, the magnitude of the potential of the
winding turns progresses linearly from one turn to the next in the toroidal direction. Capacitive
coupling of this temporally- and spatially-varying potential also drives losses in the silicon. The
geometry shown in Figure 1(b) is used to model these losses.
The magnetically-driven losses in the silicon are modeled under the assumption that the
skin depth in silicon is comparable to or larger than Ro or smaller dimensions at the operating
frequencies of interest; Ro is typically 5 mm. Assuming a doping density of 1016 cm−3 and an
operating frequency of 30 MHz, the skin depth of silicon is approximately 7 mm, and so the
large skin depth assumption is justified. At a doping density of 1018 cm−3 , for example, the skin
depth drops to 1 mm, and magnetic diffusion must be considered.
The magnetically-driven losses in the toroidal core, Region 2 ranging over Ri < r < Ro , is
modeled under the assumption that the skin depth of silicon is larger than D/2; D is typically
1 mm or less. Inside the core, the time-varying magnetic flux density B̄ is assumed to be φ̂-
directed and dependent only on r. Further, since (Ro − Ri )  D, the electric field Ē is assumed
to be r̂-directed and dependent only on r and z; the ẑ-directed Ē which is dominant near r = Ri
and r = Ro is ignored. With these assumptions, Ē may be determined directly from B̄ using
Faraday’s Law. The time-average Ohmic power dissipation density is then computed as σ Ē · Ē/2
where σ is the silicon conductivity. Finally, the power dissipation density is integrated over the
volume of the toroidal core to yield PM2 , the magnetically-driven loss in the core, according to

PM2 = σ ω 2 µ2◦ N 2 I 2 D3 ln(Ro /Ri ) / (48 π) (1)

where N I is the peak number of Ampere-Turns around the core. As a typical example, for
a toroidal inductor with N = 25, Ro = 5 mm, Ri = 0.5 mm, D = 1 mm, a silicon doping
density of 1018 cm−3 which yields σ = 5 · 103 S/m, ω = 2π × 30 MHz, and I = 1 A, (1)
yields PM2 = 2.7 W, whereas a doping density of 1016 cm−3 which yields σ = 200 S/m, yields
PM2 = 0.1 W. Therefore, due to the significant loss for doping densities above approximately
1016 cm−3 , the option of having a silicon core is eliminated and not considered further here.
The magnetically-driven losses in Regions 1 and 3 are modeled under the assumption that
the skin depth of silicon is larger than Ri and Ro , respectively. In these regions, a nominally

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PowerMEMS 2013 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 476 (2013) 012053 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/476/1/012053

ẑ-directed time-varying poloidal B̄ drives a φ̂-directed Ē. The resulting losses are analyzed
here based on the inductance LP [9], associated with the energy stored in the exterior poloidal
magnetic fields given by

LP = 0.5 µ◦ (Ro + Ri ) (ln(8(Ro + Ri )/(Ro − Ri )) − 2) . (2)

Assuming that the skin depth of silicon is larger than Ri , the peak poloidal flux ΛP , and the
magnitude of the approximately uniform poloidal magnetic field in Region 1, r < Ri , can be
determined from
ΛP = π Ri2 |B̄| = LP I . (3)
Faraday’s Equation in combination with (2) and (3) then yields |Ē| from which the magnetically-
driven Ohmic loss in Region 1, PM1 , may be computed. This computation yields

PM1 = σ W ω 2 L2P I 2 /(16 π) . (4)

In Region 3, the magnitude of the magnetic flux density is assumed to fall off as B◦ (Ro /r)3 .
Thus it decays in r as it would away from a magnetic dipole assuming that the skin depth of
silicon is larger than Ro . The coefficient B◦ can then be determined from
Z ∞
ΛP = B◦ (Ro /r)3 2πrdr = 2 π B◦ Ro2 = LP I . (5)
RO

Faraday’s Equation in combination with (2) and (5) then yields |Ē| from which the magnetically-
driven Ohmic loss in Region 3, PM1 , may be computed. This computation yields

PM3 = D σ ω 2 L2p I 2 /(8 π) . (6)

The summation of (4) and (6) is used to model the magnetically-driven losses in silicon.
The electrically-driven losses are driven by the time- and spatially-varying winding turn
potentials coupled capacitively to the silicon through the insulator that separates the turns
from the silicon. Modeling the associated electric fields and Ohmic loss begins by expressing
the electric potential around the inductor in the φ̂ direction as a Fourier sum of single harmonic
functions. Following [7], this potential is then used to determine two-dimensional (r̂,φ̂) potential
solutions to Laplace’s Equation in Regions 1, 3 and 4. The electric fields and the electrically-
driven Ohmic losses can then be found directly from the potentials in the three regions. The
details of this approach are given in [8]. For brevity, only the results are detailed here.
In Regions 1 and 3, the electric potential is modeled as a Fourier sum of terms taking the
form (φ+ rm + φ− r−m ) sin(mφ), where m is the Fourier expansion index, and φ+ and φ− are
coefficients. A separate expression having this form is used for each silicon region and each
insulating silicon-dioxide region between the silicon and the winding turns. The solutions are
stitched together through boundary conditions at material interfaces, and the coefficients are
determined by matching boundary conditions. The r̂- and φ̂-directed electric fields in the silicon,
and the associated Ohmic losses, may then be calculated directly from the potential solutions.
For Region 3, r > Ro , this approach yields
m m
2π D σ V 2 ω 2 2I Ro + ∆ Ro
   
PE3 = , Γσ = σSi − ,
m (Γ2ω + Γ2σ ) Ro Ro + ∆
m
Ro Ro + ∆ m
  
Γω =ω (I − Si ) + ω (I + Si ) (7)
Ro + ∆ Ro
for the electrically-driven loss PE3 where V is the terminal voltage of the inductor, Si is the
permittivity of silicon, and I is the permittivity of the silicon-dioxide insulator. The same

3
PowerMEMS 2013 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 476 (2013) 012053 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/476/1/012053

(a) (b)

Figure 2. (a) Semi-distributed reactive circuit model for a silicon-embedded inductor. (b)
Simplified equivalent circuit for a silicon-embedded inductor.

approach can be used for computing the loss PE1 in Region 1, r < Ri . Indeed, PE1 can be found
from (7) by replacing (Ro + ∆) with (Ri − ∆) and by replacing Ro alone with Ri alone.
To determine the electrically-driven loss PE4 in the silicon layer underneath the inductor in
Region 4, a structure involving three layers is considered. Beneath the winding turns is a thin
insulating layer of silicon dioxide having a thickness of ∆ above a silicon layer having a thickness
Y , which is in turn above an infinitely-thick air layer. An approach similar to that used above
for Regions 1 and 3 is used here as well. This approach is detailed in [8]. The analytical results
for the underlying layer are not included here for brevity as they are quite long.

3. Equivalent Circuit & Capacitance

Equivalent circuits for sinusoidal-steady-state inductor operation are useful for power circuit
analysis, co-optimization and design. They also capture what is naturally measured as the
inductor impedance. Figure 2(a) shows a semi-distributed equivalent reactive circuit modeling a
silicon-embedded toroidal inductor. This circuit treats the inductor as a leakage-free N -winding
transformer with one transformer winding per inductor turn. A lumped parasitic capacitor C
exists between each turn and the silicon adjacent to that turn; the silicon substrate is treated
as a common node. Analysis of the inductor in Figure 1(b) and the circuit in Figure 2(a) leads
to an equivalent capacitance of

Ceq = C (N 2 − 1) / (12 N ) , C = 2 π F I (Ro D + Ri D + 0.5(Ro2 − Ri2 )) / (N ∆) . (8)

as used in the equivalent circuit in Figure 2(b) where F is the lateral filling factor fraction of the
area of the winding turns above the silicon. The inductance Leq accounts for the toroidal and
poloidal magnetic flux [5, 8]. Ohmic winding losses [5, 8], and PM1 and PM3 are driven by the
inductor current and properly appear as parts of Req1 in series with Leq as shown in Figure 2(b).
Their total time-average loss is divided by I 2 /2 to determine their contributions to Req1 . Losses
PE1 , PE3 and PM4 are driven by V , and properly appear as parts of Req2 in parallel with Leq
and Req1 , along with Ceq . Their total time-average loss is divided by V 2 /2 to determine their
contributions to Req2 . In all cases, the losses are frequency dependent, and so are evaluated at
the frequency of power circuit operation or impedance measurement prior to determining Req .

4. Experiments & Model Comparisons

The measured impedance of toroidal inductors embedded in 1-10 Ω·cm standard-resistivity (SR)
wafers and 2-3 kΩ·cm high-resistivity (HR) wafers, having skin depths of 1.6 cm and 46 cm,
respectively, was reported in [4]. This data is shown in Figure 3(a), together with theoretical
predictions based on the models presented above. A 0.65-mΩ contact resistance per vertical via
joint is added to Req1 to improve the experiment-to-theory match. The embedded inductors
have N = 25, W = 500 µm, D = 300 µm, Ro = 6 mm, Ri = 2 mm, ∆ = 12 µm and an average
copper winding thickness of T = 30 µm. The inductors exhibit a measured =(Z)/ω of 45 nH at

4
PowerMEMS 2013 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 476 (2013) 012053 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/476/1/012053

(a) (b)

Figure 3. (a) Measured and modeled impedance of embedded inductors in SR and HR wafers.
(b) Decomposition of modeled losses for the cases of SR and HR wafers.

low frequency and a DC resistance of 300 mΩ. Figure 3(b) decomposes the modeled losses into
winding and silicon losses. The inductors in the SR and HR wafers exhibit peak quality factors
of 16 near 40 MHz and 22 near 80 MHz, respectively. Note that the silicon losses in the two
inductors rise quickly near 40-50 MHz. Further discussion of these results appears in Section 5.

5. Conclusions
Several important conclusions can be drawn from the work described here. First, the equivalent
circuit model matches well the measured behavior of a silicon-embedded toroidal inductor.
Second, as long as it is removed from the core of the inductor at high doping densities, the
close proximity of silicon need not significantly degrade inductor quality factor. Winding loss
dominates the quality factors modeled and measured here for frequencies up to 40 MHz, making
winding optimization more important than silicon selection; see Figure 3. For higher frequencies,
quality factor is a strong function of silicon resistivity as expected, making its selection more
important than winding design. At these frequencies, electrically-driven silicon losses appear to
be dominant, making large ∆ an important fabrication objective.

Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully thank Ms. X. Yu, Dr. F. Herrault, Dr. J. K. Kim, and Prof. M. G. Allen
from the Georgia Institute of Technology for providing the measurement data shown in Figure
3(a) and the underlying image in Figure 1(a).

References
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[2] Gu L, Li X, Microelectromecs Systems, 2007, 16 1162-72.
[3] Araghchini M, et al., J. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 2013, 28(9), 4182-4201.
[4] Yu X, Araghchini M, Herrault F, Kim J, Lang J H and Allen M G , Proc. PowerMEMS 2012, 2012, 58 - 61
[5] Araghchini M, et al., Proc. IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), 2012, 3293-3300.
[6] Araghchini M, et al., to appear in J. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 2013
[7] Woodson H and Melcher J R, 1968, Electromechanical Dynamics, Vol 2, (John Wiley).
[8] Araghchini M, 2013, (MEMS) Toroidal Magnetics for Integrated Power Electronics, PhD Thesis, MIT.
[9] Whinnery R and Duzer V, 1965, Fields and Waves in Communication Electronics,(John Wiley).