Inductors are passive devices used in electronic circuits to store energy as a magnetic field. They are the complement of capacitors, which store energy in the form of an electric field. Inductors come in many forms, but they all play an important role in the functioning of electronic devices. They can be used in high-power applications, noise suppression, RF, signal, and isolation.
Power Inductors:
Power inductors come in a variety of form factors and power levels. They include surface mount inductors that can handle a few amps of current, as well as through-hole and chassis mount inductors that can handle tens to hundreds of amps. Because power inductors carry large amounts of current, they tend to generate large magnetic fields. They can be used for voltage conversion, especially in DC-DC circuits.
If possible, magnetically shielded inductors should be used to prevent these magnetic fields from causing noise in other parts of the circuit.
Multilayer Chip Inductors:
Multilayer inductors get their name from the multiple layers of coils wound around a center core. Adding extra layers of coils to an inductor increases the inductance, but also increases the capacitance between the wires. These inductors trade higher inductance for a lower maximum operating frequency.
Axial Inductors/Color Ring Inductors:
Axial inductors are usually easily identifiable due to their color but are often mistaken for resistors. To make this type of inductor, a very thin copper wire is wound around a dumbbell shaped ferrite core and two caps are attached at the top and bottom of the dumbbell core. After that, it goes through a molding process (green material around the inductor) where the value is printed as a color band so we can determine the value of the inductor by reading the color band and comparing it with the color code chart, just like resistors. The main applications of axial inductors are line filters and boost converters, which can provide high inductance values.
Radial Inductor/Bobbin Inductor:
Similar to axial inductors, radial inductors are wound on a cylindrical bobbin, hence the name bobbin inductor. They are mainly used for mounting on printed circuit boards. The leads consist of two types: axial and radial. Axial leads mean the leads extend from both sides of the core for horizontal mounting on PC boards. Radial leads mean the leads extend from both sides of the core for vertical mounting on PC boards. Radial inductors with relief can achieve high inductance value and low DCR, and they are suitable for SMPS circuits, input and output filters, and Pl filters.
Toroidal Core Inductors:
This form of inductor is wound around a toroidal coil former. Ferrite is often used as the coil former as this increases the magnetic permeability of the core. The advantage of a toroidal coil is that it enables the magnetic flux to flow circularly around the toroid, so the magnetic flux leakage is very low. The disadvantage of a toroidal inductor is that it requires a special winding machine to manufacture because the wire must pass through the toroid every time it makes one turn. The main applications of toroidal core inductors are medical devices, switching regulators, industrial controllers, and output filters (SMPS).
Coupled Inductors:
Coupled inductors share a magnetic circuit and influence each other. Coupled inductors are often used as transformers to step up or down voltage, or to provide isolated feedback. They are also used in applications where mutual inductance is required.
Molded High Current Power Inductors:
Inductors molded in a plastic or ceramic housing are called molded inductors. Typically, these inductors have a cylindrical or strip form factor and are available in a variety of winding options. Zxcompo offers molded high current power inductors for general purpose and automotive applications.
RF Inductors/Wirewound Inductors:
High frequency inductors, also known as radio frequency (RF) inductors, are designed to operate at high frequencies. These inductors typically have higher resistance and lower current ratings. Most RF inductors have air cores, rather than ferrite or other inductance enhancing core materials. This is because the increase in losses when using these core materials reduces the operating frequency of the inductor.
Due to the operating frequency of the inductor, it is important to mitigate several sources of losses, whether it is skin effect, proximity effect, or parasitic capacitance. Skin effect and proximity effect effectively increase the resistance of the inductor. There are several techniques to reduce these losses, including the use of honeycomb and spider web coils to reduce parasitic capacitance. Also, stranded wire is often used to reduce skin effect.
In general, inductors are key components in electronic circuits, and they come in many types, each with its own characteristics. Correct selection and use of inductors is essential to ensure the stability and performance of circuits. I hope this article can provide readers with useful references in the selection and application of inductors.
Advantages of Zxcompo Inductors
Zxcompo products include multilayer power inductors, wound surface mount inductors, and molded surface mount inductors for power and signal lines. A full range of passive electronic and magnetic components including inductors, capacitors, resistors, transformers, and filters are available. Our products are widely used in automotive, telecommunications, consumer electronics, and other fields. Each product is designed to achieve performance and maximize signal and power efficiency while saving space.
Other advantages include:
Fully automated manufacturing
High reliability AEC-Q200
ISO 9001 quality standards
RoHS compliant
REACH compliant
Why Choose Zxcompo?
Our company has more than 1,000 types of inductors and 15 years of experience in this field. It is a product that produces extremely low resistance over a wide frequency range. Zxcompo is widely recognized by a global technical team for designing, manufacturing, and providing high-quality, high-performance signal integrity and noise filtering solutions.
Zxcompo brand inductors, also known as coils or reactors, are passive electronic components that resist changes in the current flowing through them. Core material, winding type and geometry play a critical role in the performance of power inductors. Shipping worldwide. Simply contact us for samples: sales@ZXcompo.com.
