• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.241-245
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• 2005

CoFeNi alloys are some of the most studied soft magnetic materials because of their applications as write-head core materials in HDD and MEMS. Ternary CoFeNi films with high saturation magnetic flux density, Bs and low coercivity, He were successfully grown by electrodeposition. The optimal composition was $Co_{30}\;Fe_{34}\;Ni_{36}(at\%)$, and Bs and Hc were 1.9 T and 0.16 A/m, respectively. The XRD and TEM results show that the low Hc of the CoFeNi films was due to very fine crystal particles and mixed fcc and bcc phases.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.138-143
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• 2003

A double spiral thin-film inductor with a NiFe magnetic core is integrated with DC-DC converter IC. The NiFe core is deposited on a polyimide film as the thinckness of NiFe is 2.5~3.5 ${\mu}$m. Then, copper conductor line is deposited on the NiFe core with double spiral structure. Process integration is performed by sequential processes of etching the polyimide film deposited both top and bottom of the NiFe core and electroplation copper conductor line from exposed metal pad of the DC-DC converter IC. Process integration is simplified by elimination planarization process for top core because the proposed thin-film inductor has a bottom NiFe core only. Inductor of the fabricated monolithic DC-DC converter IC is 0.53 ${\mu}$H when the area of converter IC and thin-film inductor are 5X5$\textrm{mm}^2$ and 3.5X2.5$\textrm{mm}^2$, respectively. The efficiency is 72% when input voltage and output voltage are 3.5 V and 6 V, respectively at the operation frequency of 8 MHz.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.249-254
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• 2006

CoFeNi alloys are some of the most studied soft magnetic materials because of their superial properties over FeNi alloys as write head core materials in HDD and MEMS. We studied the effect of magnetic property according to size and orientation of crystal for electroplated Co-Fe-Ni alleys. In case of heat treated ternary alloy, it affect the change of crystal size and structure. In this study, it intends to improve the magnetic properties of CoFeNi thin film by heat treatment. Minimized coercivity and increased magnetization are due to heat treatment from $300^{\circ}C\;to\;400^{\circ}C$. As a bcc phase formation, it grow to amount of magnetization.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.71-71
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• 2009

This paper describes a simple, on-chip CMOS compatible the thin-film inductor applied for the dc-dc converters. A fully CMOS-compatible thin-film inductor with a bottom NiFe core is integrated with the DC-DC converter circuit on the same chip. By eliminating ineffective top magnetic layer, very simple process integration was achieved. Fabricated monolithic thin film inductor showed fairly high inductance of 2.2 ${\mu}H$ and Q factor of 11.2 at 5MHz. When the DC-DC converter operated at $V_{in}=3.3V$ and 5MHz frequency, it showed output voltage $V_{out}=8.0V$, and corresponding power efficiency was 85%.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.218-223
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• 2002

We investigated the magnetic properties of High Flux-type $Ni_{x}Fe_{100-x}$(x=40∼50, wt.％) permalloy powders and dust cores. The powder was prepared by conventional gas atomization in mass production scale. At the composition of $Ni_{x}Fe_{55}$, saturation magnetization was maximum. In case of lower Ni content than X=45, the $M_{s}$, decreased largely with the decrease in Ni content, which is due to the invar effect. The permeability of compressed powder cores increased with the decrease in Ni content, which was considered to be due to the decrease in the magnetostriction. In addition, the dust core with Ni=45％ showed the lowest core loss because of the increase in electrical resistivity leading to the low eddy current loss. From the better frequency dependence of permeability, larger Q value and superior DC bias characteristics of Ni=45％ than those of Ni=50％ core, it was confirmed that the 45％Ni-55％Fe powder alloy was better material for the dust core than commercial High Flux core materials.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.50 no.11
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• pp.555-561
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• 2001

In this paper, the low power (1.5 W) solenoid-type magnetic thin-film transformers utilizing a $Ni_{81}Fe_{19)$ core material were designed and fabricated for 5 MHz-drive DC-DC converter application. The $20\mum$ thick copper films were used as the coils. The transformers fabricated in this work have the sizes of $3.08 mm\times25.5 mm\; and\; 6.15 mm\times12.75 mm.$ The optimum design of solenoid-type magnetic thin film transformers was performed utilizing the conventional equations, a Maxwell computer simulator (Ansoft HFSS V7.0 for PC), and parameters obtained from the magnetic properties of NiFe magnetic core materials. frequency characteristics of inductance, dc resistance (R), coupling factor (k) and gain of developed transformers were measured using HP4194A impedance and gain-phase analyzer. The fabricated transformers with the size of $6.15 mm\time12.75 mm$ exhibit the inductance of $0.83 \muH$, the dc resistance of $2.3\Omega$$\Omega$, the k of 0.91 and the gain of -1 dB at 5 MHz, which show the comparable results to those reported in the recent literatures. The measured high-frequency characteristics for the fabricated transformers agreed well with those obtained by theoretical calculations .

• ETRI Journal
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.270-273
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• 2003

This paper presents a simple process to integrate thin-film inductors with a bottom NiFe magnetic core. NiFe thin films with a thickness of 2 to 3${\mu}m$ were deposited by sputtering. A polyimide buffer layer and shadow mask were used to relax the stress of the NiFe films. The fabricated double spiral thin-film inductor showed an inductance of 0.49${\mu}H$ and a Q factor of 4.8 at 8 MHz. The DC-DC converter with the monolithically integrated thin-film inductor showed comparable performances to those with sandwiched magnetic layers. We simplified the integration process by eliminating the planarization process for the top magnetic core. The efficiency of the DC-DC converter with the monolithic thin-film inductor was 72% when the input voltage and output voltage were 3.5 V and 6 V, respectively, at an operating frequency of 8 MHz.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.225-225
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• 2010

In this study, the optimum structure of a magnetic thin film inductor was designed for application of DC-DC converters. The $Ni_{81}Fe_{19}$ (at%) alloy was selected as a high-frequency($\geq$ MHz) magnetic thin film core material and deposited on various substrates (bare Si, $SiO_2$ coated Si) using a high vacuum RF magnetron sputtering system. As-deposited NiFe thin films show similar magnetic properties compared to bulk NiFe alloys, indicating that they have a good film quality. The optimum design of solenoid-type magnetic thin film inductors was performed utilizing a Maxwell computer simulator (Ansoft HFSS V7.0 for PC) and parameters obtained from the magnetic properties of magnetic core materials selected. The high-frequency characteristics of the inductance(L) and quality factor(Q) obtained for the designed inductors through simulation agreed well with those obtained by theoretical calculations, confirming that the simulated result is realistic. The optimum structure of high-performance ($Q{\geq}60$, $L\;=\;1{\mu}H$, efficiency${\geq}90%$), high-frequency (${\geq}5MHz$), and solenoid-type magnetic thin film inductors was designed successfully.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.435-439
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• 2011

In this work, we prepared Fe-Ni alloy nanopowders by wire electrical explosion in deionized water and ethanol. Particles size and morphology of the as-synthesized nanoparticles prepared in water and ethanol were observed by transmission electron microscopy. In both cases, the as-synthesized nanoparticles were in nearly spherical shape and their size distribution was broad. The particles prepared in the water were in core-shell structure due to the oxidation of Fe element. X-ray diffraction was used to analyze the phase of the nanopowders. It showed that the nanopowders prepared in water had ${\gamma}$-Fe-Ni solid solution and FeO phase. The samples obtained in ethanol were in two phases of Fe-Ni solid solution, ${\gamma}$-Fe-Ni and ${\alpha}$-Fe-Ni. Bulk samples were made from the as-synthesized nanopowders by spark plasma sintering at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 10 min. Structure of the bulk sample was observed by scanning electron microscope. Magnetic properties of the as-synthesized nanopowders and the bulk samples were investigated by vibrating sample magnetometer. The hysteresis loop of the assynthesized nanopowders and the sintered bulk samples revealed a ferromagnetic characteristic.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.74-83
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• 2001

In this study, the optimum structure of a magnetic thin film inductor was designed for application of DC-DC converters. The Ni$\sub$81/Fe$\sub$19/ (at%) alloy was selected as a high-frequency($\geq$MHz) magnetic thin film magnetron sputtering system. As-deposited NiFe thin films show similar magnetic properties compared to bulk NiFe alloys, indicating that they have a good film quality. The optimum design of dolenoid-type magnetic thin film inductors was performed utilizing a Maxwell computer simulator (Ansoftt HFSS V7.0 for PC) and parameters obtained from the magnetic properties of magnetic core materials selected. The high-frequency characteristics of the inductance(L) and quality factor(Q) obtained for the designed inductors through simulation agreed well with those obtained by theoretical calculations, confirming that the simulated result is realistic. The optimum structure of high-performance (Q$\geq$60, L = 1${\mu}$H, efficiency $\geq$90%), high-frequency ($\geq$5MHz), and solenoid-type magnetic thin film inductors was designed successfully.