See all Innovation Awards

Tyndall National Institute – European Technology will be MagIC

EARTO Innovation Awards 2021 – Impact Expected Category

First Prize

 

Minimising energy consumption in electronics (from Smart phones to data-centre servers and network infrastructure) has been a major, long-standing, technological challenge, in both science and engineering communities. Discrete, bulky, wire-wound, magnetic components used for power delivery in electronic systems are a road-block to the power efficiency improvements required to address increasingly demanding environmental concerns, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Responding to this challenge, Tyndall National Institute has over the last decade, developed “MagIC”, a disruptive magnetic inductor component technology which will enable significant reductions in energy consumption in future battery-critical and power-intensive applications. When in high volume production, MagIC will create its magic by dramatically reducing system energy consumption, extending battery life and reducing the overall size, weight and cost of future electronic systems.

Moving one step forward

The power of MagIC is that it can eliminate the use of bulky wire-wound inductor components that are essential for efficient power management of electronic circuits, By enabling the making of tiny magnetic components that can be built directly on silicon chips, MagIC can dramatically increase battery life of electronic systems while reducing both the weight and cost of the power supply circuits. Tyndall’s MagIC effectively does for magnetics what the silicon chip has done for transistors over the last 50 years – MagIC makes magnetics disappear into silicon chips.

Making magnetics disappear

Created by EARTO member, Tyndall National Institute, the MagIC platform delivers thin-film micro-magnetics components that can enable dramatic reductions in electronic system energy use, by allowing magnetics to be integrated directly onto microprocessor and other system chips. With a multi-disciplinary team approach, Tyndall’s micro-magnetics offering comprises validated design/simulation tools, thin-film magnetic material specifications and characterisation methodologies, fully-documented process flows and design rules for high-volume fabrication, test and characterisation procedures for thin-film magnetic cores, micro-inductors and micro-transformers.

Achieving the impossible

Tyndall’s technology is considered one of the world-leading solutions for powering future electronics. Tyndall has established itself as a thought-leader in this emerging technology and has lead the global semiconductor industry in the definition of technology roadmaps and supply chains to deliver on MagIC’s promise. MagIC is expected to achieve initial commercial evaluations in 2022 as it approaches the inflection milestone of high volume, low-cost deployment of production-grade integrated magnetics in 2022-2023. With a granted patent and more than €10M of research funding to date, Tyndall National Institute has already achieved commercial success in 16 funded projects at national and EU levels, platform licenses with 2 global smartphone brands and a major semiconductor foundry while engaging with more than 16 global leading companies.

The video of the innovation is available here.

© Photos Credit: Tyndall National Institute & istock