The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 01, 2008
Filed:
May. 25, 2005
Peter Johnson, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Peter J. Hopper, San Jose, CA (US);
Kyuwoon Hwang, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Robert Drury, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Peter Johnson, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Peter J. Hopper, San Jose, CA (US);
Kyuwoon Hwang, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Robert Drury, Palo Alto, CA (US);
National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method is provided for forming the ferromagnetic core of an on-chip inductor structure. In accordance with the method, a static, permanent magnet is placed in proximity to a semiconductor wafer upon which the ferromagnetic core is being electroplated. The permanent magnet is place such that the magnetic field is orthogonal to the wafer. The 'easy' axis material is that plated parallel parallel to the magnet's field and saturates at a lower applied field. The 'hard' axis is that plated perpendicular to the applied magnetic filed and saturates later, at a higher current level. This plating approach results in optimum magnetic alignment of the ferromagnetic core so as to maximize both the field strength/magnetic flux slope and magnitude before magnetic material saturation occurs.