Effect of surface functionalization of metal wire on electrophysical properties of inductive elements

The development of the microelectronics industry requires a new element basis with reduced size and increased functionality. The most important components in modern microelectronic integrated circuits are passive elements. One of the key challenges in order to improve the functionality of integrated circuits is to increase the quality of passive elements composing them. In this paper we suggest a novel approach to increase the quality factor Q of inductors by the surface modification and functionalization of the metal components. Ultrasound induced surface modification of metal wires led to the formation of a porous surface structure, which further can be functionalized with magnetite nanoparticles using layer-by-layer assembly technique. The surface modification and deposition of magnetite nanoparticles was investigated with SEM, XRD, and contact angle measurements. Additionally, inductance and resistance measurements, as the main parameters determining the Q-factor of inductors, were carried out. Samples with high number of magnetic nanoparticle-polyelectrolyte bilayers demonstrate a significant increase in inductance and a slight decrease in resistance in comparison to uncoated ones. The combination of these factors led to enhancement the Q-factor of the investigated inductive elements.