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:
Dec. 09, 2008
Filed:
Apr. 21, 2005
Kyuwoon Hwang, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Peter J. Hopper, San Jose, CA (US);
Robert Drury, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Peter Johnson, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Kyuwoon Hwang, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Peter J. Hopper, San Jose, CA (US);
Robert Drury, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Peter Johnson, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
An on-chip inductor structure includes top and bottom metal plates that are formed to surround a conductor coil formed between the top and bottom plates, but is separated therefrom by intervening dielectric material. The top and bottom plates are preferably formed from a ferromagnetic alloy, e.g. Permalloy, and are subdivided into a plurality of space-apart segments, thereby reducing eddy currents. The number of segments is optimized based upon the process technology utilized to fabricate the structure. Preferably, a finite gap is formed between the top plate and the bottom plate, the height of the gap being chosen to adjust the total inductance of the structure.