Experimental Evaluations of Printed Circuit Board and On-Chip Inductors Backed by AMC Surfaces

Abstract

This letter investigates the role of artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) surfaces in increasing the inductance of printed inductors. Both printed circuit board (PCB) and on-chip loop inductor prototypes backed by spiral AMC surfaces are designed and fabricated for this purpose. Measurements of PCB prototypes demonstrate that the loop inductance increases by a factor of 2 or higher within the AMC operation bands. Furthermore, experimental evaluations of the developed test-chips prove successful miniaturization of a loop inductor when the AMC reflector is employed. The drawback of this technique is degradation of the quality factor near the AMC operation regions, which is shown to be caused by the generation of eddy currents in the spiral conductor paths of the AMC surface.