In the last decade, the progress of personal computer is growing very fast. The frequency of signals on mother boards applies between 33MHz and 1GHz. Due to the high operating frequency, the radiation from the microstrip lines on PCB should be noticed when designing the PCB¡¦s layout. The solution is using solenoidal and rogowski coils which have been investigated for many years. Coils, however, not only can be used in RF inductors, but also induce currents due to magnetic field through the cross section wound in turns. Therefore, coils may be used to induce magnetic field. Using this phenomenon, intensity of currents on DUT(Device Under Test) could be measured as well. In order to make more extensive use, optimization routines on the basis of the model were found. This thesis shows that magnetic field sensors on silicon and PCB can be studied in a better model, simulated by the software, Ansoft HFSS. Simple accurate expressions, an equivalent circuit model, and the transfer impedance are presented. As a result, induction of magnetic field on silicon is demonstrated in the area enclosed by turns, the parasitic capacitance or inductance, and conductor resistance, which is due to the skin effect in the high frequency. Hence, coils can induce large current because of big cross section. We can use it to measure the magnetic field and the currents radiated by the microstrip on PCB. In this thesis, I will show a novel PCB sensor which can measure 100MHz to 4 GHz signals and it has large output signal as well. The advantages of these coils are less disturbing DUT and easy to produce. It proves that we can use these magnetic field sensors to help solving the EMI problems.

The thesis consisted of three parts. The first part introduced designed trend of the embedded passive component and the process flow of organic substrate. A design flow of spiral inductor embedded in 4 layer organic substrate has been demonstrated. Part 2 focused on the extraction equations of conventional PI model and modified T model. These two models have been applied to develop the equivalent circuits of the organic spiral inductors . The comparison between modeling and measurement results shows their difference on modeling accuracy. Part 3 introduced the scalable equations in both modeling techniques to find the equivalent circuit parameters from inductor¡¦s geometrical parameters. A 2.4GHz band-pass filter was simulated to illustrate the application of wide band scalable modeling techniques.

High population density and the presence of many more motorcycles than cars make the noise environment in Taiwan different from that in other countries. There is growing concern about the electromagnetic effects within this environment. The electromagnetic environment is unique and the information about radio noise is not sufficient at this time. The interference of wireless communication system may be caused by the noise environment. Thus, we need to consider the influence that the noise causes. With the measured radio noise, the minimum suggested receive power in an urban environment ranges from 354 MHz to 426 MHz. It is analyzed by the means of Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF), Amplitude Probability Distribution (APD), Noise Amplitude Distribution (NAD), Pulse Duration Distribution (PDD), Pulse Spacing Distribution (PSD) and Average Crossing Rate (ACR). We measured the properties of noise at an urban center, a nearby port, and a freeway exit, which are located in the same city, and on a hill lying adjacent to the city. We chose an urban center and a nearby hill as the noise environment for the following reasons: (a) The noise margin at urban areas is smaller than that at suburban and rural areas. (b) The coverage of the measurement on a hill is larger than that in a city. (c) The relation of the noise environment between a hill and an urban center can be obtained. The statistical distributions of the four particular noise environments are shown and design constraints for a broadcasting system are revealed. Secondly, we also provide a technology for designing miniature Rogowski coils on glass substrates to obtain current sensors for high operating frequencies in this thesis. The coils are useful for measurement of a small current on a microstrip line at high frequencies. In our experiments, a 50 Ohm microstrip line is driven by an input voltage of 100 mV. A frequency as high as 6 GHz has been used. The highest frequency is limited by the oscilloscope available to us. Geometric effects of the device were investigated to obtain the sufficient output voltage at high frequencies. The induced output voltage can approach approximately 7 mV by modifying the structure of Rogowski coils. At the same time, On-chip solenoid inductors for high frequency magnetic integrated circuits are proposed. The eddy current loss was reduced by dividing the inductor into three consecutive inductors connected in series. The inductor has an inductance of 1.1 nH and the maximum quality factor (Qmax) of 50.5. The self-resonant frequency and the operating frequency at Qmax are greater than 17.5 GHz and 16.7 GHz, respectively.

<p>A theoretical approach to calculating impedance of metallicmagnetic/conductor layered structures is developed. Thefrequency range considered extends to the ferromagneticresonance region of soft magnetic films (of the order of 1GHz). The analysis includes the effects of screening of thehigh frequency fields by eddy currents as well as the dynamicsand relaxation of the magnetization of the ferromagneticsub-system. Analytical expressions for the impedance as afunction of frequency and material parameters and geometry ofmagnetic sandwich stripes are obtained. Two maincross-sectional layouts are considered: amagnetic/conductor/magnetic sandwich stripe with and withoutflux closure at the edges along the stripe length - with andwithout the magnetic film enclosing the conductor strip. Theimportance of good magnetic flux closure for achieving largespecific inductance gains and high efficiency at GHzfrequencies is emphasized.</p><p>The theoretical results obtained were used to design andanalyze magneticfilm inductors produced using iron nitridealloy films. Patterned sandwiches, consisting of two Fe-N filmsenclosing a conductor film made of Cu, were fabricated onoxidized Si substrates using lift-off lithography. Theinductors exhibited a 2-fold specific inductance enhancement at1 GHz. The magnetic contribution to the total flux in thenarrow devices was less then predicted theoretically, which wasattributed to hardening of the magnetic material at the edgesof the strip leading to incomplete flux closure. Material anddesign issues important for further improving the performanceof the devices are discussed.</p>

This thesis explores the use of active inductors as a compact alternative to the bulky passive spiral structures in high-speed I/O circuits. A newly proposed PMOS-based topology is introduced and used in active-inductor terminations. The 1st prototype design fabricated in a 90-nm CMOS process consists of an output driver using active-inductor terminations to provide channel equalization and output impedance matching. From measurement results, the use of active inductors in the termination, as compared to when the active inductor is disabled, increases the vertical eye opening in the receiver side by a factor of two and reduces the jitterp-p by 30% of the transmitted 10 Gb/s (2³¹-1) pseudo-random binary sequence pattern, over a 6-inch FR4 channel. An output impedance matching with S₂₂ less than -10 dB over a bandwidth of 20 GHz is achieved. The pair of active-inductor terminations occupies 17×25 µm² and has a low overhead power consumption of 0.8 mW. In the 2nd prototype design, a 4-stage output buffer with active-inductor loads is designed and implemented in a 65-nm CMOS process. Simulation results verify that when operating at 31.25 Gb/s, the output eye of the active-inductor load buffer compares favorably with that of the passive-inductor load buffer. For a similar eye-height and 78% less timing jitter the active-inductor load design’s speed (31.25 Gb/s) is 25% faster than the passive-resistor load design (25 Gb/s). The active-inductor load output buffer achieves comparable performance in terms of speed, power, and output swing with other reported designs using passive inductors. Its total area is 135×30 µm² (including three differential active inductors) which is comparable to the size of a single passive spiral inductor having a 0.5~1 nH inductance.

This thesis explores the use of active inductors as a compact alternative to the bulky passive spiral structures in high-speed I/O circuits. A newly proposed PMOS-based topology is introduced and used in active-inductor terminations. The 1st prototype design fabricated in a 90-nm CMOS process consists of an output driver using active-inductor terminations to provide channel equalization and output impedance matching. From measurement results, the use of active inductors in the termination, as compared to when the active inductor is disabled, increases the vertical eye opening in the receiver side by a factor of two and reduces the jitterp-p by 30% of the transmitted 10 Gb/s (2³¹-1) pseudo-random binary sequence pattern, over a 6-inch FR4 channel. An output impedance matching with S₂₂ less than -10 dB over a bandwidth of 20 GHz is achieved. The pair of active-inductor terminations occupies 17×25 µm² and has a low overhead power consumption of 0.8 mW. In the 2nd prototype design, a 4-stage output buffer with active-inductor loads is designed and implemented in a 65-nm CMOS process. Simulation results verify that when operating at 31.25 Gb/s, the output eye of the active-inductor load buffer compares favorably with that of the passive-inductor load buffer. For a similar eye-height and 78% less timing jitter the active-inductor load design’s speed (31.25 Gb/s) is 25% faster than the passive-resistor load design (25 Gb/s). The active-inductor load output buffer achieves comparable performance in terms of speed, power, and output swing with other reported designs using passive inductors. Its total area is 135×30 µm² (including three differential active inductors) which is comparable to the size of a single passive spiral inductor having a 0.5~1 nH inductance.

This thesis explores the use of active inductors as a compact alternative to the bulky passive spiral structures in high-speed I/O circuits. A newly proposed PMOS-based topology is introduced and used in active-inductor terminations. The 1st prototype design fabricated in a 90-nm CMOS process consists of an output driver using active-inductor terminations to provide channel equalization and output impedance matching. From measurement results, the use of active inductors in the termination, as compared to when the active inductor is disabled, increases the vertical eye opening in the receiver side by a factor of two and reduces the jitterp-p by 30% of the transmitted 10 Gb/s (2³¹-1) pseudo-random binary sequence pattern, over a 6-inch FR4 channel. An output impedance matching with S₂₂ less than -10 dB over a bandwidth of 20 GHz is achieved. The pair of active-inductor terminations occupies 17×25 µm² and has a low overhead power consumption of 0.8 mW. In the 2nd prototype design, a 4-stage output buffer with active-inductor loads is designed and implemented in a 65-nm CMOS process. Simulation results verify that when operating at 31.25 Gb/s, the output eye of the active-inductor load buffer compares favorably with that of the passive-inductor load buffer. For a similar eye-height and 78% less timing jitter the active-inductor load design’s speed (31.25 Gb/s) is 25% faster than the passive-resistor load design (25 Gb/s). The active-inductor load output buffer achieves comparable performance in terms of speed, power, and output swing with other reported designs using passive inductors. Its total area is 135×30 µm² (including three differential active inductors) which is comparable to the size of a single passive spiral inductor having a 0.5~1 nH inductance. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

The characterization and modeling of piezoelectric transformers are studied and developed for use in electronic ballasts. By replacing conventional L-C resonant tanks with piezoelectric transformers, inductor-less piezoelectric transformer electronic ballasts have been developed for use in fluorescent lamps. The piezoelectric transformer is a combination of piezoelectric actuators as the primary side and piezoelectric transducers as the secondary side, both of which work in longitudinal or transverse vibration mode. These actuators and transducers are both made of piezoelectric elements, which are composed of electrode plates and piezoelectric ceramic materials. Instead of the magnetic field coupling between the primary and secondary windings in a conventional magnetic core transformer, piezoelectric transformers transfer electrical energy via electro-mechanical coupling that occurs between the primary and secondary piezoelectric elements for isolation and step-up or step-down voltage conversion. Currently, there are three major types of piezoelectric transformers: Rosen, thickness vibration mode, and radial vibration mode, all three of which are used in DC/DC converters or in electronic ballasts for fluorescent lamps. Unlike the other two transformers, the characterization and modeling of the radial vibration mode piezoelectric transformer have not been studied and developed prior to this research work. Based on the piezoelectric and wave equations, the physics-based equivalent circuit model of radial vibration mode piezoelectric transformers is derived and verified through characterization work. Besides the major vibration mode, piezoelectric transformers have many spurious vibration modes in other frequency ranges. An improved multi-branch equivalent circuit is proposed, which more precisely characterizes radial vibration mode piezoelectric transformers to include other spurious vibration modes in wide frequency ranges, as compared with the characterizations achieved by prior circuits. Since the equivalent circuit of piezoelectric transformers is identical to the conventional L-C resonant tank used in electronic ballasts for fluorescent lamps, piezoelectric transformers replace the conventional L-C resonant tank in order to reduce the amount and cost of electronic components for the electronic ballasts. With the inclusion of the radial vibration mode piezoelectric transformer, the design and implementation of inductor-less piezoelectric transformer electronic ballast applications have been completed. / Ph. D.

In research environments, many soft switching inverters have been conceived, simulated, designed, implemented and proven to have advantages over hard switched inverters. To date however, no soft-switching inverters have reached commercial production for various reasons. The fixed timing coupled inductor soft-switching inverter is of interest because in simulation and previous implementation it exhibits load and source adaptability using simple RC timer circuitry and can be implemented with low cost active auxiliary devices. During the course of this implementation, it is noted that attempting to use excessively small/inexpensive active auxiliary devices has reliability ramifications related to device packaging. The issue of auxiliary active device reliability is conjectured upon by referencing available datasheet information, application specific requirements, device pulse testing and secondary research findings related to semiconductor failure characteristics. It is also noted that aspects of the simple fixed timing circuitry operation, in conjunction with coupled inductor and saturable inductor design, can lead to coupled inductor saturation if not properly addressed. Simulation is performed and validates various causes for this non-ideal behavior. / Master of Science

Computer modeling using finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to examine the effects of constructing multilayered thick film inductors using an artificially modulated magnetic composite structure. It was found that selectively introducing regions of low permeability material increased both the inductance and the current carrying capacity compared to thick film inductors made with single material magnetic cores. Permeabilities of the composite cores ranged from 1 to 220. The frequency for the models ranged from 0 to 5.0 MHz. Experimental devices were constructed using thick film screen printing techniques and characterized to validate the models and to determine the effectiveness of the design modifications. Quantitative comparisons were made between inductors of single permeability cores with inductors produced with magnetic composite cores. It was found that significant (> 130%) increases could be gained in saturation current with only a 12% decrease in inductance. It was found that the key parameters affecting performance were 1) the placement of low permeability regions, 2) the extent of non-uniform flux distribution within the structure, and 3) the volume fraction of low permeability material. / Master of Science