Sintering temperature and atmosphere effects on electric and magnetic properties of multilayer FeSiCr alloy inductors

Abstract This study investigates the electric and magnetic properties of multilayer inductors made of FeSiCr alloy powders sintered at different temperatures and atmospheres. For FeSiCr alloy sintered in air, the semiconducting AgCrO2 phase formation has a great impact on the insulation resistance and withstands pulse voltage. The inductance for samples sintered in the air decreased with increasing sintering temperature. The insulation resistances were low for the samples sintered under a nitrogen atmosphere. However, re-annealing treatment in the air can increase insulation resistance. The inductance sequence for samples sintered under nitrogen atmosphere is 750 °C > 650 °C > 850 °C. Multilayer FeSiCr alloy inductors can be sintered under a nitrogen atmosphere to increase the inductance by suppressing nonmagnetic phase formation and improve the Q value by increasing the silver conductor continuity. After sintering, multilayer inductors can be re-annealed in the air to increase the resistance, and hence increase the ability to withstand pulse voltage.