High-quality factor multipath differential fractal inductor for wireless applications

Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a high-quality factor fractal inductor for wireless applications such as satellite, WLAN, Bluetooth, microwave, radar and cellular phone. Design/methodology/approach The Hilbert fractal curve is used in the implementation of the proposed inductor. In the proposed inductor, the metal width has split into multiple paths based on the skin depth of the metal. The simulations of the proposed inductor are performed in 180 nm CMOS technology using the Advanced Design System EM simulator. Findings The multipath technique reduces the skin effects and proximity effects, which, in turn, decreases the series resistance of the inductor and attains high-quality factor over conventional fractal inductor for the equal on-chip area. Research limitations/implications The width of the path has chosen higher than the skin depth of the metal for a required operating frequency. Due to cost constraints, the manufacturing of the proposed fractal inductor is limited to a single layer. Practical implications The proposed inductor will be useful for the implementation of critical building blocks of radio frequency integrated circuits and monolithic microwave integrated circuits such as low-noise amplifiers, voltage-controlled oscillators, mixers, filters and power amplifiers. Originality/value This paper presents for the first time the use of a multipath technique for the fractal inductors to enhance the quality factor.