Improving the Efficiency of a 10 MHz Voltage Regulator Using a PCB-Embedded Inductor

Strategic Insights -

A team of researchers from Sungkyunkwan University has made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of power conversion, designing a 10 MHz voltage regulator module (VRM) that incorporates a solenoid inductor embedded within a printed circuit board (PCB). This innovative design has shown significant improvements in efficiency, achieving a peak efficiency of 70.43% at a load current of 900 mA, compared to a surface-mounted (SMT) inductor version that reached 65.24% at 800 mA. The study's findings have far-reaching implications for the development of high-frequency, high-efficiency power conversion systems.

Key Takeaways:

  • The research team designed a 10 MHz VRM that incorporates a solenoid inductor embedded within a PCB, demonstrating improved efficiency compared to traditional SMT inductor-based systems.
  • The PCB-embedded inductor version achieved a peak efficiency of 70.43% at a load current of 900 mA, a 5.19% improvement over the SMT-based system.
  • The VRM with an embedded inductor experienced less efficiency degradation under heavy load conditions, demonstrating superior energy delivery stability.
  • The team used a test PCB and a vector network analyzer (VNA) to verify the performance of the inductor, processing measurement data through a 2x-thru de-embedding technique.
  • Funders for the research included Samsung, Ministry of Science & ICT (MSIT), Republic of Korea.
  • Additional authors on the research include GiWon Kim and Jisoo Hwang.

Statistics:

  • Peak efficiency: 70.43% (PCB-embedded inductor) vs. 65.24% (SMT inductor) at 900 mA and 800 mA respectively.
  • Improvement in efficiency: 5.19%
  • Cost of inductor: Comparison between PCB-embedded and SMT inductor-based systems not provided.
  • Load current: 800 mA (SMT inductor) and 900 mA (PCB-embedded inductor)
  • Efficiency degradation: 5.19% (less efficient degradation under heavy load conditions)

Sources:

  • NewsRx. Studies from Sungkyunkwan University Yield New Information about Electronics (Improving the Efficiency of a 10 Mhz Voltage Regulator Using a Pcb-embedded Inductor). Journal of Engineering. October 20, 2025; p 4071.
  • Electronics. Improving the Efficiency of a 10 Mhz Voltage Regulator Using a Pcb-embedded Inductor. Electronics, 2025;14(18).
  • Mdpi. Contact information for Electronics: St Alban-Anlage 66, Ch-4052 Basel, Switzerland.