nductor

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Inductor

A selection of low-value inductors

Type Passive

Working principle Electromagnetic induction

First production Michael Faraday (1831)

Electronic symbol

An inductor (also choke, coil or reactor) is a passive two-terminal electrical component that stores energy in

its magnetic field. For comparison, a capacitor stores energy in an electric field, and a resistor does not store
energy but rather dissipates energy as heat.

Any conductor has inductance although the conductor is typically wound in loops to reinforce the magnetic
field.

Due to the time-varying magnetic field inside the coil, a voltage is induced, according toFaraday's law of
electromagnetic induction, which by Lenz's law opposes the change in current that created it. Inductors are
one of the basic components used in electronics where current and voltage change with time, due to the
ability of inductors to delay and reshape alternating currents.

Contents
  [hide] 

1 Overview
o 1.1 Ideal and real inductors

2 Applications

3 Inductor construction

4 Types of inductor

o 4.1 Air core inductor

 4.1.1 Radio frequency
inductor

o 4.2 Ferromagnetic core inductor

 4.2.1 Laminated core
inductor

 4.2.2 Ferrite-core
inductor

 4.2.3 Toroidal core
inductor

o 4.3 Variable inductor

5 In electric circuits

o 5.1 Laplace circuit analysis (s-

domain)

o 5.2 Inductor networks

o 5.3 Stored energy
 6 Q factor

7 Inductance formulae

8 See also

9 Notes

10 References

11 External links

[edit]Overview

Inductance (L) results from the magnetic field forming around a current-carrying conductor which tends to resist

changes in the current.Electric current through the conductor creates a magnetic flux proportional to the
current. A change in this current creates a corresponding change in magnetic flux which, in turn, by Faraday's
law generates an electromotive force (EMF) that opposes this change in current. Inductance is a measure of
the amount of EMF generated per unit change in current. For example, an inductor with an inductance of
1 henryproduces an EMF of 1 volt when the current through the inductor changes at the rate of 1 ampere per
second. The number of loops, the size of each loop, and the material it is wrapped around all affect the
inductance. For example, the magnetic flux linking these turns can be increased by coiling the conductor
around a material with a high permeability such as iron. This can increase the inductance by 2000 times.[citation
needed]

[edit]Ideal and real inductors

An "ideal inductor" has inductance, but no resistance or capacitance, and does not dissipate or radiate energy.
However real inductors have resistance (due to the resistance of the wire and losses in core material),
and parasitic capacitance (due to the electric field between the turns of wire which are at slightly different
potentials). At high frequencies the capacitance begins to affect the inductor's behavior; at some frequency,
real inductors behave as resonant circuits, becoming self-resonant. At frequencies above this the capacitive
reactance becomes the dominant part of the impedance. Energy is dissipated by the resistance of the wire, and
by any losses in the magnetic core due tohysteresis. At high currents, iron core inductors also show gradual
departure from ideal behavior due to nonlinearity caused by magnetic saturation. At higher frequencies,
resistance and resistive losses in inductors grow due to skin effect in the inductor's winding wires. Core losses
also contribute to inductor losses at higher frequencies. Practical inductors work as antennas, radiating a part
of energy processed into surrounding space and circuits, and accepting electromagnetic emissions from other
circuits, taking part in electromagnetic interference. Circuits and materials close to the inductor will have near-
field coupling to the inductor's magnetic field, which may cause additional energy loss. Real-world inductor
applications may consider the parasitic parameters as important as the inductance.

[edit]Applications

An inductor with two 47mH windings, as may be found in a power supply.

Inductors are used extensively in analog circuits and signal processing. Inductors in conjunction
withcapacitors and other components form tuned circuits which can emphasize or filter out specific signal
frequencies. Applications range from the use of large inductors in power supplies, which in conjunction with
filter capacitors remove residual hums known as the mains hum or other fluctuations from the direct current
output, to the small inductance of the ferrite bead or torus installed around a cable to prevent radio frequency
interference from being transmitted down the wire. Smaller inductor/capacitor combinations provide tuned
circuits used in radio reception and broadcasting, for instance.

Two (or more) inductors that have coupled magnetic flux form a transformer, which is a fundamental
component of every electric utility power grid. The efficiency of a transformer may decrease as the frequency
increases due to eddy currents in the core material and skin effect on the windings. The size of the core can be
decreased at higher frequencies and, for this reason, aircraft use 400 hertz alternating current rather than the
usual 50 or 60 hertz, allowing a great saving in weight from the use of smaller transformers.[1] The principle of
coupled magnetic fluxes between a stationary and a rotating inductor coil is also used to produce mechanical
torque in induction motors, which are widely used in appliances and industry. The energy efficiency of induction
motors is greatly influenced by the conductivity of the winding material. For more information about the
conductivity of the winding material, see: Copper in energy efficient motors#Electrical conductivity in motor
coils.

An inductor is used as the energy storage device in some switched-mode power supplies. The inductor is
energized for a specific fraction of the regulator's switching frequency, and de-energized for the remainder of
the cycle. This energy transfer ratio determines the input-voltage to output-voltage ratio. This XL is used in
complement with an active semiconductor device to maintain very accurate voltage control.

Inductors are also employed in electrical transmission systems, where they are used to depress voltages from
lightning strikes and to limit switching currents and fault current. In this field, they are more commonly referred
to as reactors.

Larger value inductors may be simulated by use of gyrator circuits.

[edit]Inductor construction

Inductors. Major scale in centimetres.

An inductor is usually constructed as a coil of conducting material, typically copper wire, wrapped around

acore either of air or of ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic material. Core materials with a higher permeability than
that of air increase the magnetic field and confine it closely to the inductor, thereby increasing the inductance.
Low frequency inductors are constructed like transformers, with cores of electrical steel laminated to
preventeddy currents. 'Soft' ferrites are widely used for cores above audio frequencies, since they do not cause
the large energy losses at high frequencies that ordinary iron alloys do. Inductors come in many shapes. Most
are constructed as enamel coated wire (magnet wire) wrapped around a ferrite bobbin with wire exposed on
the outside, while some enclose the wire completely in ferrite and are referred to as "shielded". Some inductors
have an adjustable core, which enables changing of the inductance. Inductors used to block very high
frequencies are sometimes made by stringing a ferrite cylinder or bead on a wire.

Small inductors can be etched directly onto a printed circuit board by laying out the trace in a spiral pattern.
Some such planar inductors use a planar core.

Small value inductors can also be built on integrated circuits using the same processes that are used to
maketransistors. Aluminium interconnect is typically used, laid out in a spiral coil pattern. However, the small
dimensions limit the inductance, and it is far more common to use a circuit called a "gyrator" that uses
a capacitor and active components to behave similarly to an inductor.
[edit]Types of inductor
[edit]Air core inductor
The term air core coil describes an inductor that does not use a magnetic core made of a ferromagnetic
material. The term refers to coils wound on plastic, ceramic, or other nonmagnetic forms, as well as those that
have only air inside the windings. Air core coils have lower inductance than ferromagnetic core coils, but are
often used at high frequencies because they are free from energy losses called core lossesthat occur in
ferromagnetic cores, which increase with frequency. A side effect that can occur in air core coils in which the
winding is not rigidly supported on a form is 'microphony': mechanical vibration of the windings can cause
variations in the inductance.

[edit]Radio frequency inductor

At high frequencies, particularly radio frequencies (RF), inductors have higher resistance and other losses. In
addition to causing power loss, in resonant circuits this can reduce the Q factor of the circuit, broadening
the bandwidth. In RF inductors, which are mostly air core types, specialized construction techniques are used
to minimize these losses. The losses are due to these effects:

 Skin effect: The resistance of a wire to high frequency current is higher than its resistance to direct
current because of skin effect. Radio frequency alternating current does not penetrate far into the body of
a conductor but travels along its surface. Therefore, in a solid wire, most of the cross sectional area of the
wire is not used to conduct the current, which is in a narrow annulus on the surface. This effect increases
the resistance of the wire in the coil, which may already have a relatively high resistance due to its length
and small diameter.

 Proximity effect: Another similar effect that also increases the resistance of the wire at high
frequencies is proximity effect, which occurs in parallel wires that lie close to each other. The individual
magnetic field of adjacent turns induces eddy currents in the wire of the coil, which causes the current in
the conductor to be concentrated in a thin strip on the side near the adjacent wire. Like skin effect, this
reduces the effective cross-sectional area of the wire conducting current, increasing its resistance.

 Parasitic capacitance: The capacitance between individual wire turns of the coil, called parasitic
capacitance, does not cause energy losses but can change the behavior of the coil. Each turn of the coil is
at a slightly different potential, so the electric field between neighboring turns stores charge on the wire. So
the coil acts as if it has a capacitor in parallel with it. At a high enough frequency this capacitance can
resonate with the inductance of the coil forming a tuned circuit, causing the coil to become self-resonant.

To reduce parasitic capacitance and proximity effect, RF coils are constructed to avoid having many turns lying
close together, parallel to one another. The windings of RF coils are often limited to a single layer, and the
turns are spaced apart. To reduce resistance due to skin effect, in high-power inductors such as those used in
transmitters the windings are sometimes made of a metal strip or tubing which has a larger surface area, and
the surface is silver-plated.

 Honeycomb coils: To reduce proximity effect and parasitic capacitance, multilayer RF coils are
wound in patterns in which successive turns are not parallel but crisscrossed at an angle; these are often
called honeycomb or basket-weave coils.

 Spiderweb coils: Another construction technique with similar advantages is flat spiral coils. These are
often wound on a flat insulating support with radial spokes or slots, with the wire weaving in and out
through the slots; these are called spiderweb coils. The form has an odd number of slots, so successive
turns of the spiral lie on opposite sides of the form, increasing separation.

 Litz wire: To reduce skin effect losses, some coils are wound with a special type of radio frequency
wire called litz wire. Instead of a single solid conductor, litz wire consists of several smaller wire strands
that carry the current. Unlike ordinary stranded wire, the strands are insulated from each other, to prevent
skin effect from forcing the current to the surface, and are braided together. The braid pattern ensures that
each wire strand spends the same amount of its length on the outside of the braid, so skin effect
distributes the current equally between the strands, resulting in a larger cross-sectional conduction area
than an equivalent single wire.

[edit]Ferromagnetic core inductor

Ferromagnetic-core or iron-core inductors use a magnetic core made of
a ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic material such as iron or ferrite to increase the inductance. A magnetic core
can increase the inductance of a coil by a factor of several thousand, by increasing the magnetic field due to its
higher magnetic permeability. However the magnetic properties of the core material cause several side effects
which alter the behavior of the inductor and require special construction:

 Core losses: A time-varying current in a ferromagnetic inductor, which causes a time-varying magnetic
field in its core, causes energy losses in the core material that are dissipated as heat, due to two
processes:

 Eddy currents: From Faraday's law of induction, the changing magnetic field can induce
circulating loops of electric current in the conductive metal core. The energy in these currents is
dissipated as heat in the resistance of the core material. The amount of energy lost increases with the
area inside the loop of current.

 Hysteresis: Changing or reversing the magnetic field in the core also causes losses due to the
motion of the tiny magnetic domains it is composed of. The energy loss is proportional to the area of
 the hysteresis loop in the BH graph of the core material. Materials with low coercivity have narrow
hysteresis loops and so low hysteresis losses.

For both of these processes, the energy loss per cycle of alternating current is constant, so core
losses increase linearly with frequency. Online core loss calculators[2] are available to calculate the
energy loss. Using inputs such as input voltage, output voltage, output current, frequency, ambient
temperature, and inductance these calculators can predict the losses of the inductors core and AC/DC
based on the operating condition of the circuit being used.[3]


Nonlinearity: If the current through a ferromagnetic core coil is high enough that the magnetic
core saturates, the inductance will not remain constant but will change with the current through the
device. This is called nonlinearity and results in distortion of the signal. For example, audio
signals can suffer intermodulation distortion in saturated inductors. To prevent this, in linear
circuits the current through iron core inductors must be limited below the saturation level. Using a
powdered iron core with a distributed air gap allows higher levels of magnetic flux which in turn allows
a higher level of direct current through the inductor before it saturates.[4]

[edit]Laminated core inductor

Low-frequency inductors are often made with laminated cores to prevent eddy currents, using construction
similar to transformers. The core is made of stacks of thin steel sheets or laminations oriented parallel to
the field, with an insulating coating on the surface. The insulation prevents eddy currents between the
sheets, so any remaining currents must be within the cross sectional area of the individual laminations,
reducing the area of the loop and thus the energy loss greatly. The laminations are made of low-
coercivity silicon steel, to reduce hysteresis losses.

[edit]Ferrite-core inductor

For higher frequencies, inductors are made with cores of ferrite. Ferrite is a ceramic ferrimagnetic material
that is nonconductive, so eddy currents cannot flow within it. The formulation of ferrite is xxFe2O4 where xx
represents various metals. For inductor cores soft ferrites are used, which have low coercivity and thus
low hysteresis losses. Another similar material is powdered iron cemented with a binder.

[edit]Toroidal core inductor

Main article: Toroidal inductors and transformers

In an inductor wound on a straight rod-shaped core, the magnetic field lines emerging from one end of the
core must pass through the air to reenter the core at the other end. This reduces the field, because much
of the magnetic field path is in air rather than the higher permeabilitycore material. A higher magnetic field
and inductance can be achieved by forming the core in a closed magnetic circuit. The magnetic field lines
form closed loops within the core without leaving the core material. The shape often used is a toroidal or
doughnut-shaped ferrite core. Because of their symmetry, toroidal cores allow a minimum of the magnetic
flux to escape outside the core (called leakage flux), so they radiate less electromagnetic interference than
other shapes. Toroidal core coils are manufactured of various materials, primarily ferrite, Kool Mu MPP,
powdered iron and laminated cores.[5]

[edit]Variable inductor
A variable inductor can be constructed by making one of the terminals of the device a sliding spring
contact that can move along the surface of the coil, increasing or decreasing the number of turns of the
coil included in the circuit. An alternative construction method is to use a moveable magnetic core, which
can be slid in or out of the coil. Moving the core farther into the coil increases the permeability, increasing
the inductance. Many inductors used in radio applications (usually less than 100 MHz) use adjustable
cores in order to tune such inductors to their desired value, since manufacturing processes have certain
tolerances (inaccuracy). Sometimes such cores for frequencies above 100 MHz are made from highly
conductive non-magnetic material such as aluminum. They decrease the inductance because the
magnetic field must bypass them.

Another method to control the inductance without any moving parts requires an additional DC or LF current
biased winding which controls the permeability of an easily saturable core material. See Magnetic
amplifier.

[edit]In electric circuits

The effect of an inductor in a circuit is to oppose changes in current through it by developing a voltage
across it proportional to the rate of change of the current. An ideal inductor would offer no resistance to a
constant direct current; however, only superconducting inductors have truly zero electrical resistance.

The relationship between the time-varying voltage v(t) across an inductor with inductance L and the time-
varying current i(t) passing through it is described by the differential equation:

When there is a sinusoidal alternating current (AC) through an inductor, a sinusoidal voltage is

induced. The amplitude of the voltage is proportional to the product of the amplitude (IP) of the current
and the frequency (f) of the current.
 In this situation, the phase of the current lags that of the voltage by π/2.

If an inductor is connected to a direct current source with value I via a resistance R, and

then the current source is short-circuited, the differential relationship above shows that
the current through the inductor will discharge with an exponential decay:

[edit]Laplace circuit analysis (s-domain)

When using the Laplace transform in circuit analysis, the impedance of an ideal
inductor with no initial current is represented in the s domain by:

where

L is the inductance, and

s is the complex frequency.

If the inductor does have initial current, it can be represented by:

 adding a voltage source in series with the inductor, having the value:

(Note that the source should have a polarity that is aligned with the initial
current)

 or by adding a current source in parallel with the inductor, having the

value:

where

L is the inductance, and

 is the initial current in the inductor.

[edit]Inductor networks
Main article: Series and parallel circuits
Inductors in a parallel configuration each have the same potential
difference (voltage). To find their total equivalent inductance (Leq):

The current through inductors in series stays the same, but

the voltage across each inductor can be different. The sum
of the potential differences (voltage) is equal to the total
voltage. To find their total inductance:

These simple relationships hold true only when

there is no mutual coupling of magnetic fields
between individual inductors.

[edit]Stored energy
The energy (measured in joules, in SI) stored by an
inductor is equal to the amount of work required to
establish the current through the inductor, and
therefore the magnetic field. This is given by:

where L is inductance and I is the current

through the inductor.
This relationship is only valid for linear (non-
saturated) regions of the magnetic flux linkage
and current relationship.

[edit]Q factor

An ideal inductor will be lossless irrespective of

the amount of current through the winding.
However, typically inductors have winding
resistance from the metal wire forming the
coils. Since the winding resistance appears as
a resistance in series with the inductor, it is
often called the series resistance. The
inductor's series resistance converts electric
current through the coils into heat, thus
causing a loss of inductive quality. The quality
factor (or Q) of an inductor is the ratio of its
inductive reactance to its resistance at a given
frequency, and is a measure of its efficiency.
The higher the Q factor of the inductor, the
closer it approaches the behavior of an ideal,
lossless, inductor.

The Q factor of an inductor can be found

through the following formula, where R is its
internal (Series Model) electrical resistance
and   is capacitive or inductive reactance at
resonance:

By using a ferromagnetic core, the

inductance is greatly increased for the
same amount of copper, multiplying up the
Q. Cores however also introduce losses
that increase with frequency. A grade of
core material is chosen for best results for
the frequency band. At VHF or higher
frequencies an air core is likely to be used.

Inductors wound around a ferromagnetic

core may saturate at high currents,
causing a dramatic decrease in
inductance (and Q). This phenomenon
can be avoided by using a (physically
larger) air core inductor. A well designed
air core inductor may have a Q of several
hundred.

An almost ideal inductor (Q approaching

infinity) can be created by immersing a coil
made from
a superconducting alloy in liquid
helium orliquid nitrogen. This supercools
the wire, causing its winding resistance to
disappear. Because a superconducting
inductor is virtually lossless, it can store a
large amount of electrical energy within
the surrounding magnetic field
(see superconducting magnetic energy
storage). Bear in mind that for inductors
with cores, core losses still exist.

[edit]Inductance formulae
The table below lists some common
simplified formulas for calculating the
approximate inductance of several
inductor constructions.

Con
stru Dimensi Not
Formula
ctio ons es
n
 
L 
=
indu
ctan
ce
in he
nries
(H)


μ
0  = p
erme
abilit
y of
free

Cyli spac
ndri e = 4
cal  ×
air-
core 10−7 
coil[ H/m
6]


K
 =
Nag
aoka
coeff
icien
t[6]


N
 =
num
ber
of
turns


A
  =
area
of
cross
-
secti
on of
the
coil
in
squa
re
metr
es
(m2)


l 
=
lengt
h of
coil
in
metr
es
(m)
Stra  L  exa
ight ct
wir = if ω
e indu = 0
con or
duc ctan ω =
tor [ ce ∞
7]

 l 
=
cylin
der
 lengt
h

 c 
=
cylin
der
radiu
s

 μ
0  =
vacu
um
perm
eabil
ity =
 
nH/c
m

 μ 
=
cond
uctor
perm
eabil
ity

 p 
=
resis
tivit
y

 ω
 =
 phas
e
rate

 L  
=
+0-3% indu

ctan
ce
(µH)


 l 
=
lengt
h of
cond
uctor
(mm
)

 d 
=
diam
eter
of
cond
uctor
(mm
)

 f 
=
freq
uenc
y
  L 
=
indu
ctan
ce
(µH)

 l 
=
lengt
h of
cond
uctor 
(mm
) 

 d 
+0-3%
=

diam
eter
of
cond
uctor
(mm
)

 f 
=
freq
uenc
y
Sho  L 
rt
air- =
core indu
cyli
ndri ctan
cal ce
 (µH)

 r 
=
outer
radiu
s of
coil
(in)

 l 
coil [
=
8]
lengt
h of
coil
(in)

 N
 =
num
ber
of
turns
Mul  L 
tila
yer =
air- indu
core
coil[ ctan
citation
ce
needed
] (µH)

 r 
=
mea
n
radiu
s of
 coil
(in)

 l 
=
phys
ical
lengt
h of
coil
wind
ing
(in)

 N
 =
num
ber
of
turns

 d 
=
dept
h of
coil
(oute
r
radiu
s
minu
s
inner
radiu
s)
(in)
Flat  L 
spir
al =
air- indu
core
coil[ ctan
9]
ce
[citatio
n (µH)
needed
]  r 
=
mea
n
radiu
s of
coil
(cm)

 N
 =
num
ber
of
turns

 d 
=
dept
h of
coil
(oute
r
radiu
s
minu
s
inner
radiu
 s)
(cm)

 L 
=
indu
ctan
ce
(µH)

 r 
=
mea
n
radiu
s of
coil
(in)

 N
 =
num
ber
of
turns

 d 
=
dept
h of
coil
(oute
r
radiu
s
minu
 s
inner
radiu
s)
(in)

 a
ccur
ate
to
withi
n5
perc
ent
for d 
>
0.2 r
.[10]
Tor  L 
oida
l =
core indu
(cir
cula ctan
r ce
cros
(µH)
s-
sect
ion)  μ
[11]
0  = p
erme
abilit
y of 
free
spac
e = 4
 ×
10−7 
 H/m

 μ
r  =
relati
ve
perm
eabil
ity
of
core
mate
rial

 d 
=
diam
eter
of
coil
wind
ing
(in)

 N
 =
num
ber
of
turns

 D
 = 2
*
radiu
s of
revol
 ution
(in)

 L 
=
indu
ctan
ce
(µH)

 μ
0  = p
erme
abilit
y of 
free
spac
e = 4
 ×
10−7 
H/m

 μ
r  =
relati
ve
perm
eabil
ity
of
core
mate
rial

 d 
=
 diam
eter
of
coil
wind
ing
(in)

 N
 =
num
ber
of
turns

 D
 = 2
*
radiu
s of
revol
ution
(in)

 a
ppro
xima
tion
whe
n d <
0.1 
D
Tor  L 
oida
l =
core indu
(rec
tan ctan
gula ce
r
cros (µH)
s-
sect  μ
ion)
[12] 0  = p
erme
abilit
y of 
free
spac
e = 4
 ×
10−7 
H/m

 μ
r  =
relati
ve
perm
eabil
ity
of
core
mate
rial

 d
1  =
insid
e
diam
eter
of
toroi
d
 (in)

 d
2  =
outsi
de
diam
eter
of
toroi
d
(in)

 N
 =
num
ber
of
turns

 h 
=
heig
ht of
toroi
d
(in)
[edit]See also