Study of the impact of winding form and film thickness on thin-film inductors

Using a DC-magnetron sputtering system, we fabricated several forms of double-sided coupling thin-film inductors on a PCB (Printed Circuit Board). Due to the effects of winding forms and thickness of the film, the inductance, Q factor and resonance frequency of the inductors are different. Of the three types of inductors covering the same area, the meander inductor has the highest resonance frequency (up to 400 MHz), the circular-spiral inductor has the largest inductance (up to 1 μH/cm2) and Q factor (up to 25) at low frequency, and the hexagon-spiral inductor has moderate inductance and Q factor at an intermediate frequency. So the proper choice of winding form will depend on the specific application.