Solved with COMSOL Multiphysics 5.

I n t e g r a te d S qua r e- S h ap ed Sp i ral
Inductor
Introduction
This example presents a model of a micro-scale square inductor, used for LC bandpass
filters in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).
The purpose of the model is to calculate the self-inductance of the microinductor.
Given the magnetic field, you can compute the self-inductance, L, from the relation
2W m
L = -----------2
I
where Wm is the magnetic energy and I is the current. The model uses the Terminal
boundary condition, which sets the current to 1 A and automatically computes the
self-inductance. The self-inductance L becomes available as the L11 component of the
inductance matrix.

Model Definition
The model geometry consists of the spiral-shaped inductor and the air surrounding it.
Figure 1 below shows the inductor and air domains used in the model. The outer
dimensions of the model geometry are around 0.3 mm.

Figure 1: Inductor geometry and the surrounding air.

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The model equations are the following:

e

( V J ) = 0
1 1

( 0 r A ) + V = J

In the equations above, denotes the electrical conductivity, A the magnetic vector
potential, V the electric scalar potential, Je the externally generated current density
vector, 0 the permittivity in vacuum, and r the relative permeability.
The electrical conductivity in the coil is set to 106 S/m and 1 S/m in air. The
conductivity of air is arbitrarily set to a small value in order to avoid singularities in the
model, but the error becomes small as long as the value of the conductivity is small.
The constitutive relation is specified with the expression
B = 0 r H
where H denotes the magnetic field.

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INTEGRATED SQUARE-SHAPED SPIRAL INDUCTOR

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The boundary conditions are of three different types corresponding to the three
different boundary groups; see Figure 2 (a), (b), and (c) below.
(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 2: Boundaries with the same type of boundary conditions.

The boundary condition for the boundary highlighted in Figure 2 (a) is a magnetic
insulation boundary with a terminal boundary condition. For the boundaries in
Figure 2 (b), both magnetic and electric insulation prevail. The last set of boundary
conditions, Figure 2 (c), are magnetically insulating but set to a constant electric
potential of 0 V (ground).

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Results
Figure 3 shows the electric potential in the inductor and the magnetic flux lines. The
color of the flow lines represents the magnitude of the magnetic flux. As expected this
flux is largest in the middle of the inductor.

Figure 3: Electric potential in the device and magnetic flux lines around the device.
The model gives a self-inductance of 7.551010 H.

Model Library path: ACDC_Module/Inductive_Devices_and_Coils/

spiral_inductor

Modeling Instructions
From the File menu, choose New.
NEW

1 In the New window, click Model Wizard.

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INTEGRATED SQUARE-SHAPED SPIRAL INDUCTOR

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MODEL WIZARD

1 In the Model Wizard window, click 3D.

2 In the Select physics tree, select AC/DC>Magnetic and Electric Fields (mef).
3 Click Add.
4 Click Study.
5 In the Select study tree, select Preset Studies>Stationary.
6 Click Done.
GEOMETRY 1

Import 1 (imp1)
1 On the Model toolbar, click Import.
2 In the Settings window for Import, locate the Import section.
3 Click Browse.
4 Browse to the models Model Library folder and double-click the file
spiral_inductor.mphbin.

5 Click Import.
6 Click the Wireframe Rendering button on the Graphics toolbar.

This geometry would be relatively straightforward to create from scratch; here it is

imported for convenience.
MATERIALS

Material 1 (mat1)
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) right-click Materials and

choose Blank Material.

2 Right-click Material 1 (mat1) and choose Rename.
3 In the Rename Material dialog box, type Conductor in the New label text field.
4 Click OK.
5 Select Domain 2 only.
6 In the Settings window for Material, locate the Material Contents section.

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INTEGRATED SQUARE-SHAPED SPIRAL INDUCTOR

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7 In the table, enter the following settings:

Property

Name

Value

Unit

Property group

Electrical conductivity

sigma

1e6

S/m

Basic

Relative permittivity

epsilonr

Basic

mur

Basic

Relative permeability

Material 2 (mat2)
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Materials and choose Blank Material.
2 Right-click Material 2 (mat2) and choose Rename.
3 In the Rename Material dialog box, type Air in the New label text field.
4 Click OK.
5 Select Domain 1 only.
6 In the Settings window for Material, locate the Material Contents section.
7 In the table, enter the following settings:
Property

Name

Value

Unit

Property group

Electrical conductivity

sigma

S/m

Basic

Relative permittivity

epsilonr

Basic

Relative permeability

mur

Basic

Setting the conductivity to zero in the air would lead to a numerically singular
problem. You can avoid this problem by using a small non-zero value. As 1 S/m is
much less than the electric conductivity in the inductor, the fields will only be
marginally affected.
MAGNETIC AND ELECTRIC FIELDS (MEF)

Magnetic Insulation 1
In the Model Builder window, expand the Component 1 (comp1)>Magnetic and Electric
Fields (mef) node.

Terminal 1
1 Right-click Magnetic Insulation 1 and choose Terminal.
2 Select Boundary 5 only.
3 In the Settings window for Terminal, locate the Terminal section.
4 In the I0 text field, type 1.

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Ground 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Ground.
2 Select Boundaries 75 and 76 only.

This concludes the boundary settings. Note that the boundaries that you have not
assigned are electrically and magnetically insulated by default.
MESH 1

1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) click Mesh 1.

2 In the Settings window for Mesh, locate the Mesh Settings section.
3 From the Element size list, choose Coarser.
4 On the Model toolbar, click Build Mesh.
STUDY 1

On the Model toolbar, click Compute.

RESULTS

Magnetic Flux Density Norm (mef)

The default plot shows the electric potential distribution in three cross-sections. There
are plenty of other ways of visualizing the solution. The following instructions detail
how to combine an electric potential distribution plot on the surface of the inductor
with a streamline plot of the magnetic flux density in the air surrounding it.

3D Plot Group 2
1 On the Model toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 3D Plot Group.
2 In the Model Builder window, under Results right-click 3D Plot Group 2 and choose
Surface.
3 In the Settings window for Surface, locate the Coloring and Style section.
4 From the Color table list, choose Thermal.

Data Sets
1 On the Results toolbar, click Selection.

Selecting the boundaries of the inductor is most effectively done by first selecting all
boundaries, then removing the exterior boundaries of the air box from the selection.
2 In the Settings window for Selection, locate the Geometric Entity Selection section.
3 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Boundary.
4 From the Selection list, choose All boundaries.

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INTEGRATED SQUARE-SHAPED SPIRAL INDUCTOR

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5 Select Boundaries 59, 1174, and 76 only.

3D Plot Group 2
1 Right-click 3D Plot Group 2 and choose Streamline.
2 In the Settings window for Streamline, locate the Streamline Positioning section.
3 From the Positioning list, choose Start point controlled.
4 In the Points text field, type 3.
5 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Line type list, choose Tube.
6 In the Tube radius expression text field, type 1e-6.
7 Select the Radius scale factor check box.
8 Click to expand the Quality section. From the Resolution list, choose Finer.
9 On the 3D plot group toolbar, click Plot.

The magnetic insulation condition on the exterior boundaries causes the field lines
to bend and follow the contours of the box. This inevitably introduces a systematic
error to the inductance computation. It would be possible to reduce this error by
increasing the size of the box, or introducing an infinite element domain.
Nevertheless, since the field is comparatively small near the surface of the box, the
result is reasonably accurate already. Try visualizing the local magnitude of the field
by having it decide the color of the streamlines.
10 Right-click Results>3D Plot Group 2>Streamline 1 and choose Color Expression.
11 In the Settings window for Color Expression, click Replace Expression in the

upper-right corner of the Expression section. From the menu, choose Component
1>Magnetic and Electric Fields>Magnetic>mef.normB - Magnetic flux density norm.
12 On the 3D plot group toolbar, click Plot.

Derived Values
1 On the Results toolbar, click Global Evaluation.
2 In the Settings window for Global Evaluation, click Replace Expression in the

upper-right corner of the Expression section. From the menu, choose Component
1>Magnetic and Electric Fields>Terminals>mef.L11 - Inductance.
3 Click the Evaluate button.

The inductance evaluates to 0.755 nH.

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