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Advantages of Planar Transformers

Abdul Khan is MFS Technology North America Director of Sales

In recent years, the demand for wide applications of highly regulated, reliable power supplies, and the desire to have small s, lightweight and more efficient power electronics systems has increased. The tallest and heaviest components on printed-circuit-boards are often magnetic components. The solution for miniaturization and material performance can be planar magnetic technology.

 

A planar transformer is essentially a transformer that uses flat windings, usually on a printed circuit board, instead of copper wire to form the coils. The PCB construction creates a different form factor that offers some unique advantages and a few tradeoffs.

Planar Transformer Advantages

The form factor of planar transformers offers several advantages, including:

  • Low profile – the windings are flat, allowing a shorter winding window. This can also mean the core can be designed for a larger cross-sectional area and greater surface area on the top and bottom to facilitate the removal of heat from the transformer.

  • PCB fabrication provides a high degree of consistency in spacing between turns and layers, unlike a wire-wound transformer.

  • Excellent repeatability of construction – the PCB windings are very repeatable, which makes the parasitic effects such as leakage inductance and interwinding capacitance more predictable and repeatable.

  • High isolation – The PCB construction allows increased insulation between winding layers. This provides consistency in interwinding capacitance and reduced conduction losses.

  • Together with creepage and clearance spacing, planar transformers offer excellent efficiency and a high degree of reproducibility.

What are Some of the Applications of Planar Transformers?

Planar transformers are being used in an ever-increasing number of industries that use traditional wire-wound transformers:

  • Switch Mode Power Supplies (SMPS) both AC/DC and DC/DC

  • Aerospace, Avionics

  • Consumer electronics

  • Electric vehicles

  • Industrial power systems

  • Solar inverters, wind generators

  • Telecommunications distributed power systems

  • Battery chargers

  • LED lighting

  • Medical devices

  • Appliances

Leveraging with MFS Experience

Working with a qualified supplier who understands the benefits and tradeoffs of designing a planar transformer is crucial to offer an optimum solution that fulfills safety certifications and EMI requirements which is essential in all power supply systems. MFS pioneered planar transformer PCB and revolutionized the industry from mobile and on-board EV chargers to industrial inverters. MFS has provided advanced solutions to diversified domains in power electronics, in an ever-increasing demand for higher efficiency and power density.

MFS Planar Transformers PCB Portfolio

MFS has rich design experience providing more optimization and recommendation for customer engagement at the early stage of research and development.

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