Method of making a stacked inductor-electronic package

Abstract

An embodiment of a circuit includes a circuit module and an inductor disposed over and electrically coupled to the module. Disposing the inductor over the module may reduce the area occupied by the circuit as compared to a circuit where the inductor is disposed adjacent to the module, or to a circuit where the inductor is disposed in the module adjacent to other components of the module. Furthermore, disposing the inductor outside of the module may allow one to install or replace the inductor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 fabricating a batch of inductors connected to each other;   fabricating a batch of modules;   attaching the batch of inductors to the batch of modules; and   separating the inductors from each other to create a plurality of assemblies, each assembly including an inductor stacked on top of a module.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein attaching the inductors to the modules includes inserting straight leads of the inductors into Vertical Interconnect Access (VIA) holes of the modules. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein attaching the inductors to the modules includes filling the VIA holes of the electronic package with solder paste and attaching the inductors to the solder paste at the top of the holes. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 running the reflow process for filling the VIA holes with solder paste; and running the reflow process again to attach the inductors to the solder paste at the top of the holes.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein attaching the inductors to the modules includes bending external leads of the modules into reverse J-bend configurations, and attaching the inductors to the leads using solder paste. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, the inductors are connected to each other with strips of insulating material; and
 the separation of the inductors from each other is performed by using a cutting technique. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein fabricating the batch of inductors and the batch of electronic packages is performed in respective facilities. 
     
     
         8 . A method, comprising:
 placing a first inductor over a power-supply module; and   electrically coupling the first inductor to the module.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising attaching the first inductor to the module. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the electrically coupling and attaching of the first inductor to the module are performed approximately simultaneously. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 placing a second inductor over the power-supply module; and   electrically coupling the second inductor to the module.