Embedded passive components for printed-circuit boards

Abstract

Demand for significant size reduction of circuitry used to build various portable products has increased rapidly in recent years. While significant strides have been made in the integration of active components, only little progress has been made in the integration of passive components. Together with the increasing circuit complexities to meet the increasing demand on a product's functionality, number of passive components used in a typical portable product has increased significantly in recent years and may account for 70-80% of the total part count. The embedded passives technology that was developed recently is aimed at integrating various passive components at the printed-circuit board level. By integrating these passives, manufacturers may obtain the following advantages: (1) a dramatic reduction in the overall part count, (2) improved wireability due to the elimination of vias, (3) improved reliability due to the elimination of solder joints, and (4) improved frequency response due to the elimination of parasitic inductance.