I-Core Inductor (bar core made of Feron sheet)

The I-core inductor is the simplest Feron design: a bar core (I-core) made of grain-oriented Feron sheet passes through the winding. Comparatively little Feron is thus available in the magnetic circuit – the field-strengthening effect is lower than with E-core or E+I constructions. It is an affordable, very compact Feron inductor that is easy to integrate without having to forgo the special material advantages of the Feron sheet.

Electrically, the lower core effect means: for a desired inductance, the I-core inductor needs more copper than a larger, closed core circuit. The achievable DC resistance (RDC) at the same inductance is therefore higher than with an E-core or zero-ohm design – in return, the design remains small and economical. In practice, within the compact core-inductor class it is considerably more robust under load, and lower RDC values can be realized than with geometrically comparable Aronit or ferrite core inductors. At the same time – thanks to Feron – the signal remains very clean even under load, because basic distortion from magnetization reversal is kept extremely low and saturation distortion does not come into play even at party levels or in PA applications. In short: compact, PCB-mountable – and still robust.

It is frequently mounted on the PCB. That makes it very attractive from a system perspective, but it demands discipline in the layout. For PCB-mounted inductors, the stray field must be factored into the design: distance from sensitive signal paths, from other inductors and from magnetically susceptible components, sensible orientation of the axes, and altogether clean field management through placement.

Field of Application

I-core inductors are ideal when a Feron core inductor is to be compact, PCB-mountable and attractively priced, yet more robust under load than the usual small core-inductor families.

Acoustic Properties

• Very good control and dynamics in a compact design
• Very robust operation