Patent ID: 8395914

Claim:
A DC-to-DC converter, comprising a reconfigurable capacitor unit provided with a substrate and comprising a plurality of capacitive structures each comprising a first and a second electrically conductive capacitor-electrode layer and an intermediate dielectric layer; a switching unit that comprises a plurality of switching elements electrically interconnected between different capacitive structures, wherein the individual switching elements are configured to electrically connect, in a first switching state, two respective capacitor-electrode layers with each other, and to electrically disconnect, in a second switching state, the same two respective capacitor-electrode layers from each other, the switching elements having a control input terminal and being configured to assume either the first or the second switching state in dependence on a switch-control signal applied to the control input terminal; and a control unit, which is connected with the switching unit and which is configured to generate and provide to the switching unit respective control signals for forming a respective one of a plurality of multi-capacitor configurations using the capacitive structures, wherein at least a first capacitive structure is defined in a trench in the substrate to define a trench filling, wherein a second capacitive structure is defined in the same trench in the substrate as the first capacitive structure, to form part of the same trench filling.