High-current ceramic inductors for voltage regulators
This technology is a compact ceramic inductor — a component that stores and releases electrical energy — built by stacking and firing ceramic sheets with thick metal conductors embedded directly in slots within those sheets. The thick conductors allow the component to handle much larger electrical currents than traditional ceramic inductors. A key feature is that the inductance (the component's energy-storage capacity) automatically decreases as current increases, which turns out to improve efficiency in voltage regulators, especially when the device is running at low power demand. This makes the component particularly attractive for use in the power management circuits found in electronics.
What you could build
A compact, high-current ceramic inductor component for use in DC-DC voltage regulators in electronics hardware; buyers would be power electronics manufacturers, semiconductor chipmakers, and OEMs designing power management modules for computing, telecom, or industrial equipment.
Who in Virginia should care
Defense electronics and data center power management suppliers in Virginia — including primes and their component vendors around Northern Virginia and the Hampton Roads corridor — would have direct interest in compact, efficient power regulation components.
Readiness: Lab validated
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Michele H. Lim, Jacobus Daniel Van Wyk
- Granted
- December 29, 2009
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 7638988
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.