Multilayer ceramic inductor coils with high Q factor of 15.8 in 0402 package

High reliable passive electronic device maker TDK-EPC has developed the MLG0402Q series of TDK multilayer ceramic coils in surface mount package of 0402 with a Q factor of 15.8 at 1 GHz and 10 nH. TDK-EPC claims this is the world's best and 40 percent higher than existing products. Mass production is scheduled to start in April 2010.

These chip inductor coils measure 0.4 × 0.2 × 0.2 mm3 in size. The high Q factor was achieved by employing a new technology that increases the precision of position control when forming the layers, thus allowing an optimization of the coil design. The lineup of this series (E12) comprises of 15 components with low resistance ranging from a maximum of 0.4 to 2.6 ohms, a rated current of 100 to 250 mA, and an inductance ranging from 1 to 15 nH. In addition, TDK-EPC plans to introduce an E24 series with 12 further inductance values in May 2010.

The inductor such as these with high Q factor offer high efficiency and low resistive loss making them suitable for portable wireless applications such as mobile and cordless phones.
Operating temperature range of these coils is -40 to +85 °C.