Patent Publication Number: US-9905349-B2

Title: Chip electronic component

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority and benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0103945 filed on Aug. 11, 2014, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates to a chip electronic component. 
     An inductor, a chip electronic component, is a representative passive element configuring an electronic circuit together with a resistor and a capacitor to remove noise therefrom. 
     A thin film type inductor is manufactured by forming internal coil parts and then hardening a magnetic powder-resin composite in which magnetic powder particles are mixed with a resin. 
     RELATED ART DOCUMENT 
     (Patent Document 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-166455 
     SUMMARY 
     An aspect of the present disclosure may provide a chip electronic component having improved inductance and quality (Q) factor. 
     According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a chip electronic component may include: a magnetic body having an internal coil part embedded therein, wherein the magnetic body includes first and second magnetic parts having different magnetic permeabilities. 
     The magnetic body may include: a central portion provided inside of the internal coil part and including a core; and an outer peripheral portion provided outside of the central portion, the central portion and the outer peripheral portion having different magnetic permeabilities. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective view of a chip electronic component including internal coil parts according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken along line I-I′ of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the chip electronic component of  FIG. 1  taken in an LW direction, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of a chip electronic component taken in an LT direction, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the chip electronic component of  FIG. 4  taken in an LW direction according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of a chip electronic component taken in an LT direction according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the chip electronic component of  FIG. 6  taken in an LW direction according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     The disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. 
     In the drawings, the shapes and dimensions of elements may be exaggerated for clarity, and the same reference numerals will be used throughout to designate the same or like elements. 
     Chip Electronic Component 
     Hereinafter, a chip electronic component according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, particularly, a thin film type inductor will be described. However, the present inventive concept is not necessarily limited thereto. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective view of a chip electronic component including internal coil parts according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a thin film type inductor  100  used in a power line of a power supply circuit is disclosed as an example of the chip electronic component. 
     The chip electronic component  100  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may include a magnetic body  50 , internal coil parts  42  and  44  embedded in the magnetic body  50 , and external electrodes  80  disposed on outer surfaces of the magnetic body  50  and electrically connected to the internal coil parts  42  and  44 . 
     In the chip electronic component  100  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a ‘length’ direction refers to an ‘L’ direction of  FIG. 1 , a ‘width’ direction refers to a ‘W’ direction of  FIG. 1 , and a ‘thickness’ direction refers to a ‘T’ direction of  FIG. 1 . 
     The magnetic body  50  may form the exterior appearance of the thin film type inductor  100  and contain, for example, ferrite or magnetic metal particles, but is not necessarily limited thereto. That is, the magnetic body  50  may contain any material having magnetic properties. 
     The magnetic metal particles may be formed of an alloy containing at least one selected from the group consisting of Fe, Si, Cr, Al, and Ni. For example, the magnetic metal particles may contain Fe—Si—B—Cr based amorphous metal particles, but are not limited thereto. 
     The magnetic metal particles may be contained in a polymer such as an epoxy resin, polyimide, or the like, in a form in which they are dispersed in the polymer. 
     An insulating substrate  20  disposed in the magnetic body  50  may be, for example, a polypropylene glycol (PPG) substrate, a ferrite substrate, a metal based soft magnetic substrate, or the like. 
     The insulating substrate  20  may have a through-hole formed to penetrate through a central portion thereof, wherein the through-hole may be filled with magnetic materials such as ferrite, magnetic metal particles, or the like, to form a core  55 . The core  55  filled with the magnetic materials may be formed, thereby improving an inductance (Ls). 
     The insulating substrate  20  may have the internal coil parts  42  and  44  formed on one surface and the other surface thereof, respectively, wherein the internal coil parts  42  and  44  have coil shaped patterns. 
     The internal coil parts  42  and  44  may include coil patterns having a spiral shape, and the internal coil parts  42  and  44  formed on one surface and the other surface of the insulating substrate  20 , respectively, may be electrically connected to each other through a via electrode  46  formed in the insulating substrate  20 . 
     The internal coil parts  42  and  44  and the via electrode  46  may be formed of a metal having excellent electrical conductivity, for example, silver (Ag), palladium (Pd), aluminum (Al), nickel (Ni), titanium (Ti), gold (Au), copper (Cu), platinum (Pt), or an alloy thereof, etc. 
     One end portion of the internal coil part  42  formed on one surface of the insulating substrate  20  may be exposed to one end surface of the magnetic body  50  in a length direction thereof, and one end portion of the internal coil part  44  formed on the other surface of the insulating substrate  20  may be exposed to the other end surface of the magnetic body  50  in the length direction thereof. 
     The external electrodes  80  may be formed on both end surfaces of the magnetic body  50  in the length direction thereof, respectively, to be connected to the internal coil parts  42  and  44  exposed to both end surfaces of the magnetic body  50  in the length direction thereof, respectively. 
     The external electrodes  80  may be formed of a metal having excellent electrical conductivity, for example, nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), tin (Sn), silver (Ag), or an alloy thereof, etc. 
       FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken along line I-I′ of  FIG. 1 ; and  FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the chip electronic component of  FIG. 1  taken in an LW direction according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the magnetic body  50  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may contain magnetic metal particles  11  to  13  and may be divided into first and second magnetic parts having different magnetic permeabilities. 
     The magnetic body  50  may include a central portion  51  provided inside of the internal coil parts  42  and  44  and including the core  55  and an outer peripheral portion  52  provided outside of the central portion  51 , wherein the central portion  51  is provided with a first magnetic part and the outer peripheral portion is provided with a second magnetic part having a magnetic permeability different from that of the first magnetic part. 
     Magnetic permeabilities of the first and second magnetic parts may be adjusted to be different from each other by making packing factors of the magnetic metal particles  11  to  13  different from each other. However, the present inventive concept is not necessarily limited thereto. That is, any method for adjusting the magnetic permeabilities to be different from each other may be used. 
     For example, a difference between the magnetic permeabilities of the first and second magnetic parts may be 10 H/m to 40 H/m. 
     According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a magnetic permeability of the first magnetic part may be higher than that of the second magnetic part, and the first magnetic part may be provided in the central portion  51  and the second magnetic part may be provided in the outer peripheral portion  52 , such that a magnetic permeability of the central portion  51  may be higher than that of the outer peripheral portion  52 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the central portion  51  having a relatively high magnetic permeability may contain mixtures of first magnetic metal particles  11 , which are coarse powder particles, and second magnetic metal particles  12 , which are fine powder particles, having an average particle size smaller than that of the first magnetic metal particles  11 . 
     The first magnetic metal particles  11  having a large average particle size may have high magnetic permeability, and the first magnetic metal particles  11 , which are the coarse powder particles, and the second magnetic metal particles  12 , which are the fine powder particles, may be mixed with each other to improve packing factors, thereby further improving a magnetic permeability and improving a quality (Q) factor. 
     The outer peripheral portion  52  having a relatively low magnetic permeability may contain third magnetic metal particles  13 , which are fine powder particles. 
     Since the third magnetic metal particles  13 , which are the fine powder particles, contained in the outer peripheral portion  52  show low magnetic permeability, but are low loss materials, they may serve to complement core loss increased due to use of high magnetic permeability materials in the central portion  51 . 
     That is, the high magnetic permeability materials may be used in the central portion  51  on which a magnetic flux is concentrated, and the increase in the core loss due to the high magnetic permeability materials may be alleviated by using the low loss materials in the outer peripheral portion  52 . Therefore, an inductance and a Q factor may be improved. 
     Further, in the case of using the third magnetic metal particles  13 , which are the fine powder particles, a surface roughness of the magnetic body  50  maybe improved, and a plating spreading phenomenon due to the fine powder particles may be prevented. 
     In the case of using magnetic metal particles, which are coarse powder particles, in order to achieve high magnetic permeability, a defect that the magnetic metal particles, which are the coarse powder particles, are exposed on the surface of the magnetic body  50  and a plating layer is formed on the exposed portion of the magnetic metal particles, which are the coarse powder particles, in a plating process of forming the external electrodes may occur. 
     However, in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the central portion  51  contains the first magnetic metal particles  11 , which are the coarse powder particles, in order to achieve high magnetic permeability, and the outer peripheral portion  52  contains the third magnetic metal particles  13 , which are the fine powder particles, whereby a magnetic permeability may be improved and a plating spreading defect may be suppressed. 
     A particle size of the first magnetic metal particles  11 , which are the coarse powder particles, in the central portion  51  may be 11 μm to 53 μm, and a particle size of the second magnetic metal particles  12 , which are the fine powder particles, in the central portion  51  may be 0.5 μm to 6 μm. 
     A packing factor of the magnetic metal particles in the central portion  51  may be 70 to 85%. 
     A magnetic permeability of the central portion  51  may be 28 H/m to 45 H/m. 
     A particle size of the third magnetic metal particles  13 , which are the fine powder particles, in the outer peripheral portion  52  may be 0.5 μm to 6 μm. 
     A packing factor of the magnetic metal particles in the outer peripheral portion  52  may be 55 to 70%. 
     A magnetic permeability of the outer peripheral portion  52  may be 10 H/m to 30 H/m. 
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of a chip electronic component taken in an LT direction, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and  FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the chip electronic component of  FIG. 4  taken in an LW direction, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the central portion  51  having relatively high magnetic permeability may contain first magnetic metal powder particles  11 , which are coarse powder particles, and the outer peripheral portion  52  having a relatively low magnetic permeability may contain third magnetic metal particles  13 , which are fine powder particles. 
     The first magnetic metal particles  11  having a large average particle size may have high magnetic permeability. Meanwhile, since the third magnetic metal particles  13 , which are the fine powder particles, show low magnetic permeability, but low loss, they may serve to complement core loss increased due to the use of high magnetic permeability materials in the central portion  51 . 
     When the magnetic metal particles, which are the coarse powder particles, and the magnetic metal particles, which are the fine powder particles, are mixed with each other in the central portion  51 , a packing factor maybe improved to achieve higher magnetic permeability. However, the present inventive concept is not limited thereto. That is, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the central portion  51  may contain only the first magnetic metal particles  11 , which are the coarse powder particles, as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
       FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of a chip electronic component taken in an LT direction, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and  FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the chip electronic component of  FIG. 6  taken in an LW direction, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     According to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a magnetic permeability of the first magnetic part maybe lower than that of the second magnetic part, and the first magnetic part may be provided in the central portion  51  and the second magnetic part may be provided in the outer peripheral portion  52 , such that a magnetic permeability of the central portion  51  may be lower than that of the outer peripheral portion  52 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the central portion  51  having a relatively low magnetic permeability may include third magnetic metal particles  13 , which are fine powder particles, and the outer peripheral portion  52  having relatively high magnetic permeability may contain mixtures of first magnetic metal particles  11 , which are coarse powder particles, and second magnetic metal particles  12 , which are fine powder particles, having an average particle size smaller than that of the first magnetic metal particles  11 . 
     The first magnetic metal particles  11  having a large average particle size may have high magnetic permeability, and the first magnetic metal particles  11 , which are the coarse powder particles, and the second magnetic metal particles  12 , which are the fine powder particles, may be mixed with each other to improve packing factors, thereby further improving a magnetic permeability and improving a Q factor. 
     Since the third magnetic metal particles  13 , which are the fine powder particles, show low magnetic permeability, but low loss, they may serve to complement core loss increased due to use of high magnetic permeability materials, which are coarse powder particles. 
     A particle size of the third magnetic metal particles  13 , which are the fine powder particles, in the central portion  51  may be 0.5 μm to 6 μm. 
     A packing factor of the magnetic metal particles in the central portion  51  may be 55 to 70%. 
     A magnetic permeability of the central portion  51  may be 10 H/m to 30 H/m. 
     A particle size of the first magnetic metal particles  11 , which are the coarse powder particles, in the outer peripheral portion  52  may be 11 μm to 53 μm, and a particle size of the second magnetic metal particles  12 , which are the fine powder particles, in the outer peripheral portion  52  may be 0.5 μm to 6 μm. 
     A packing factor of the magnetic metal particles in the outer peripheral portion  52  may be 70 to 85%. 
     A magnetic permeability of the outer peripheral portion  52  may be 28 H/m to 45 H/m. 
     As set forth above, according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, high inductance may be secured, and an excellent Q factor may be achieved. 
     While exemplary embodiments have been shown and described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations could be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.