US 12,336,118 B1
Planar inductive apparatus and method
Patrick R. Lavery, North Andover, MA (US); Jeffrey John LeBlanc, Grafton, MA (US); and Patrizio Vinciarelli, Boston, MA (US)
Assigned to Vicor Corporation, Andover, MA (US)
Filed by Vicor Corporation, Andover, MA (US)
Filed on May 19, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/878,263.
Int. Cl. H05K 3/44 (2006.01); H01F 27/30 (2006.01); H01F 41/02 (2006.01)
CPC H05K 3/44 (2013.01) [H01F 27/306 (2013.01); H01F 41/0246 (2013.01)] 100 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of making a planar inductive device comprising the steps of:
providing a generally planar substrate having a plurality of conductive layers, the planar substrate having a top outer surface and a bottom outer surface;
providing a plurality of spacers, in which each spacer lies upon and extends a substantially uniform distance, T, from the top outer surface or the bottom outer surface of the planar substrate, and wherein at least one spacer is separated from another spacer;
for each of the spacers, forming an aperture in the spacer and the substrate adjacent to the spacer, wherein the conductive layers of the substrate comprise a conductive feature that aligns with the aperture and forms a winding around the aperture;
depositing a malleable magnetically permeable material into each of the apertures;
curing the malleable magnetic material to form a solid plug within each of the apertures; and
etching material on the planar substrate, and using the plurality of spacers to protect ends of the solid plugs from effects of the etching.