Operating and manufacturing a DC-DC converter
First Claim
1. A method of operating a DC (‘
- Direct Current’
)-DC converter on a chip, the chip comprising;
a semiconductor die comprising a first portion and second portion, the first portion surrounding the second portion, the first portion comprising a p-type top side and an n-type bottom side, the second portion comprising an n-type top side and a p-type bottom side;
a plurality of micro-power-switching phases comprising magnetic material, with each phase comprising;
a high-side switch with a control input for activating the high-side switch, the high-side switch implemented in a cell of the n-type top side of the second portion of the semiconductor die;
a low-side switch with a control input for activating the low-side switch, the low-side switch implemented in a cell of the p-type top side of the first portion of the semiconductor die; and
an output node, the high-side switch and low-side switch electrically coupled to the output node through the magnetic material, wherein;
the output node of each phase extrudes through the magnetic material to form, in each phase, a torodial inductor with a single loop coil, and to form, for the plurality of phases, a directly coupled inductor;
the output node of each micro-power-switching phase is coupled to a filter and a load;
each high-side switch is configured, when activated, to couple a voltage source to the phase'"'"'s single loop coil; and
the low-side switch of each phase is configured, when activated, to couple the phase'"'"'s single loop coil to a ground voltage; and
the method comprising;
alternatively activating each switch, wherein no two switches of any phase are activated at the same time.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Manufacturing a DC-DC converter on a chip includes: providing a die having a p-type top side and an n-type bottom side; removing an interior portion, creating a hole; flipping the interior portion; inserting the interior portion into the hole; fabricating high-side switch cells in the interior portion'"'"'s top side and low-side switch cells in the exterior portion'"'"'s top side; sputtering a magnetic material on the entire top side; burrowing tunnels into the magnetic material; and applying conductive material on the magnetic material and within the tunnels, electrically coupling pairs of high-side and low-side switches, with each pair forming a micro-power-switching phase, where the conductive material forms an output node of the phase, and the conductive material in the burrowed tunnels forms, in each phase, a torodial inductor with a single loop coil and, for the plurality of phases, a directly coupled inductor.
163 Citations
9 Claims
-
1. A method of operating a DC (‘
- Direct Current’
)-DC converter on a chip, the chip comprising;a semiconductor die comprising a first portion and second portion, the first portion surrounding the second portion, the first portion comprising a p-type top side and an n-type bottom side, the second portion comprising an n-type top side and a p-type bottom side; a plurality of micro-power-switching phases comprising magnetic material, with each phase comprising;
a high-side switch with a control input for activating the high-side switch, the high-side switch implemented in a cell of the n-type top side of the second portion of the semiconductor die;
a low-side switch with a control input for activating the low-side switch, the low-side switch implemented in a cell of the p-type top side of the first portion of the semiconductor die; and
an output node, the high-side switch and low-side switch electrically coupled to the output node through the magnetic material, wherein;the output node of each phase extrudes through the magnetic material to form, in each phase, a torodial inductor with a single loop coil, and to form, for the plurality of phases, a directly coupled inductor; the output node of each micro-power-switching phase is coupled to a filter and a load; each high-side switch is configured, when activated, to couple a voltage source to the phase'"'"'s single loop coil; and the low-side switch of each phase is configured, when activated, to couple the phase'"'"'s single loop coil to a ground voltage; and the method comprising;
alternatively activating each switch, wherein no two switches of any phase are activated at the same time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- Direct Current’
-
8. A method of manufacturing a DC (‘
- Direct Current’
)-DC converter on a chip, the method comprisingproviding a semiconductor die having a p-type side and an n-type side, the p-type side comprising a top side and the n-type side comprising a bottom side of the semiconductor die; removing an interior portion of the semiconductor die from the interior of the semiconductor die, the removal creating a hole in the semiconductor die defined in shape by an exterior portion not removed from the semiconductor die; flipping the interior portion of the semiconductor die so that the interior portion of the semiconductor die is oriented with the n-type side being the top side and the p-type side being the bottom side; inserting the interior portion into the hole of the semiconductor die; fabricating in the top side of the interior portion a plurality of cells, each cell comprising a high-side switch having a control input for activating the high-side switch; fabricating in the top side of the exterior portion a plurality of cells, each cell comprising a low-side switch having a control input for activating the low-side switch; sputtering a magnetic material on the top side of semiconductor die; burrowing a tunnel into the magnetic material for each cell fabricated on the semiconductor die; and applying on the magnetic material and within the burrowed tunnels, conductive material thereby electrically coupling pairs of high-side and low-side switches to the conductive material through the magnetic material, with each pair forming a micro-power-switching phase, where the conductive material forms an output node of the phase, and the conductive material in the burrowed tunnels forms, in each phase, a torodial inductor with a single loop coil and, for the plurality of phases, a directly coupled inductor. - View Dependent Claims (9)
- Direct Current’
Specification