1340 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO.

5, MAY 2009

Passive and Active Hybrid Integrated EMI Filters

Juergen Biela, Member, IEEE, Alexander Wirthmueller, Roman Waespe, Marcello Lobo Heldwein, Member, IEEE,
Klaus Raggl, Member, IEEE, and Johann W. Kolar, Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract—Two new planar integrated electromagnetic interfer-

ence (EMI) filter structures that reduce the filter volume and that
are based on standard printed circuit board (PCB) process tech-
nology are presented in this paper. First, a passive integrated EMI
filter is presented, which results in a volume reduction of 24% com-
pared to the discrete solution. However, this filter requires a planar
ferrite core for the common-mode inductor. In order to eliminate
the ferrite core and reduce the filter volume further (−40% ver-
sus discrete filter), a passive integrated structure is combined with
an active EMI filtering circuit. The transfer function, the volume,
and the losses of the discrete and the two integrated filters, which Fig. 1. Circuit diagram of a 600 W PFC.
are designed for a 600 W power-factor-corrected converter, are
compared. TABLE I
SPECIFICATION OF PFC CONVERTER
Index Terms—Active filter, electromagnetic interference (EMI)
filter, integrated passives, printed circuit board (PCB) inductor.

I. INTRODUCTION
HE PURSUIT of obtaining higher power density ac/dc and
T dc/dc converters leads to increasing switching frequencies
in order to reduce the size of the energy storage elements. These
energy storage elements usually influence the overall size of
a converter significantly. This has resulted in the development
of electromagnetically integrated structures [1] that combine
several functions in one passive component.
Due to increasing switching frequencies, conducted emis-
sions from 150 kHz to 30 MHz have increased. Thus, the elec-
tromagnetic interference (EMI) filter has also become a signif- With the first filter structure, all inductor windings and all
icant part of the converter in terms of size and cost. For this capacitors except for a large differential-mode (DM) capacitor
reason, some electromagnetically integrated EMI filter struc- are integrated in the PCB. The DM capacitor is realized by a
tures [2] and [4] and also active EMI filters [5] and [6] have parallel connection of X2 SMD-X7R capacitors. For the large
been proposed. inductance value of the common-mode (CM) choke, a planar
In this paper, two new planar EMI filter structures are pre- ferrite core is needed, although the overall filter has a very low
sented that allow a significant reduction of the filter volume. profile (height <9.5 mm) and a low volume (≈25% volume re-
These structures are integrated in a printed board circuit (PCB), duction in comparison to a discrete solution). This filter is called
which could be manufactured using a cost-saving standard PCB a passive hybrid integrated EMI filter due to the combination of
manufacturing process. integrated and discrete passive components.
In a second step, the passive integrated structure is combined
with an analog amplifier (active EMI filter). With the amplifier
Manuscript received October 2, 2008; revised November 20, 2008. Current stage, the required inductance and capacitance values of the
version published May 6, 2009. This paper was presented in part at the Applied components decrease significantly, so that no additional ferrite
Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC), Dallas, TX, February
2006. Recommended for publication by Associate Editor P. Tenti. core is needed. The components of the active filter are mounted
J. Biela, R. Waespe, K. Raggl, and J. W. Kolar are with the Power Elec- on top of the PCB, where the passive filter is integrated. This
tronic Systems Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH new approach results in a very compact construction (≈40%
Zurich), Zurich 8092, Switzerland (e-mail: [email protected]; waesper@
ee.ethz.ch; [email protected]). volume reduction in comparison to a discrete solution) and is
A. Wirthmueller was with the Power Electronic Systems Laboratory, called active hybrid integrated EMI filter.
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Zurich 8092, The two proposed filter structures are designed for a 600 W
Switzerland. He is now with Columbia University, New York, NY 10027-70031
USA (e-mail: [email protected]). power-factor-corrected (PFC) converter intended for informa-
M. L. Heldwein is with the Federal University of Santa Catarina, tion technology (IT) applications (cf., Fig. 1) with the specifica-
Florianopolis 88040-970, Brazil (e-mail: [email protected]). tion given in Table I. In Section II of this paper, the discrete EMI
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. filter for the PFC converter is described for comparing the new
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2009.2012404 structures with a conventional filter. The structure of the passive
0885-8993/$25.00 © 2009 IEEE
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BIELA et al.: PASSIVE AND ACTIVE HYBRID INTEGRATED EMI FILTERS 1341

Fig. 2. Simulated emission levels of DM noise, worst-case values inclusive of

6 dB safety margin, and limit values (light-colored curve: CISPR 11 class A QP
limit).

Fig. 3. Circuit diagram of the discrete EMI filter.

hybrid integrated EMI filter, which is designed and optimized

using finite-element method (FEM) simulations, is presented in
Section III. Thereafter, the mode of operation and the design of
the active hybrid integrated EMI filter is explained in Section IV.
The measured transfer functions of all three filters together with
the losses/efficiency and the volume are compared in Section V.
Finally, a conclusion and topics of future research are given in
Section VI.

II. DISCRETE EMI FILTER

The discrete EMI filter is designed according to the procedure
described in [10] and [11], which is summarized shortly in the
Fig. 4. Insertion loss of the discrete EMI-filter.
following. First, the DM- and CM-conducted emissions of the
PFC converter are calculated by simulating a high-order circuit
model including the relevant parasitic elements. The resulting
DM emission levels are given as an example in Fig. 2, where
the blue line describes the simulated emission level measured Now, the filter topology for the DM, the corner frequencies,
by the line impedance stabilization networks (LISN), the black and the required damping are known. Depending on the number
curve represents the worst-case maximum values inclusive of of filter stages and the topology, there are some DOFs for the
safety margin, and the red and the green line the limits. choice of the component values. These degrees of freedom are
With the DM noise and the regulations on conducted RF used to minimize the overall volume of the DM EMI filter.
emissions for the intended application [Special International As with DM noise, the required attenuation for the CM could
Committee on Radio Interference (CISPR) 11], the required at- be calculated from CM noise simulation and given limits. With
tenuation of the DM filter could be calculated by selecting the the required attenuation, the filter topology is selected and the
largest peak value within the relevant range (150 kHz–30 MHz) corner frequency of the filter is calculated. Since the Y-capacitor
and comparing this value to the limits. The required filter atten- size is limited by the regulations—the current to ground must
uation is used to choose an appropriate DM filter topology [9] not exceed 3 mA at 50 Hz—the value of the inductance is de-
and the number of connected filter stages in series. On the basis termined for Y-capacitor values close to the maximum allowed
of the filter topology, the corner frequency of the filter is calcu- ones according to electrical safety regulations. In order to damp
lated, so that the attenuation is equal to the required one plus the CM filter properly, some resistors in series with the capaci-
6 dB margin at the given frequency. With the corner frequency tors are added.
of the filter, the LC products are given. The filter damping The resulting filter topology and the component values are
is—among other things—determined by an upper limit for the shown in Fig. 3. For the CM choke, Vitroperm from Vacuum-
output impedance of the filter. This limit is given by the control schmelze has been chosen in order to minimize the inductor
loop of the PFC converter since the output impedance influences volume. The measured insertion loss of the discrete filter is
the stability of the system. The controller regulates the dc output shown in Fig. 4 and the design of the filter is shown in Fig. 5,
voltage to a constant voltage resulting in a constant power load and the overall volume is 47.4 cm3 (48 mm × 38 mm × 26 mm).
behavior at the input. This behavior could lead to instabilities in In the next step, integrated filters with comparable performance
combination with the mains/EMI filter impedances [12], [13]. are designed.

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1342 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 5, MAY 2009

Fig. 5. Photograph of the discrete EMI filter.

TABLE II
PARAMETERS OF THE PASSIVE HYBRID EMI FILTER

III. PASSIVE HYBRID EMI FILTERS

In order to reduce the filter volume and simplify the manu-
facturing, the discrete EMI filter components are—if possible—
integrated into a PCB, which could be manufactured with state-
of-the-art PCB process technology. The circuit diagram of the
passive hybrid integrated EMI filter is shown in Fig. 6(a) and
the filter parameters are given in Table II.
In comparison to the discrete filter, the DM inductors are
arranged symmetrically in the lines and the DM inductance
value is slightly larger. This results in smaller CM capacitors
(100 nF/800 nF instead of 100 nF/1 µF) for the same corner
frequency of the DM filter.
The assembly of the passive hybrid filter is shown in Fig. 6(b).
Each of the coupled DM inductors is integrated by four
105-µm copper layers, which are connected in parallel in order
to minimize the ohmic losses. The copper layers are covered on
both sides by a 1.25-mm-thick layer of FPC 351 (Epcos, [14]).
Each coil consists of 17 turns, which are arranged at the edge of
the 80 mm × 80 mm PCB. The total width of the coils is 20 mm.
Thus, there is a 40 mm × 40 mm large region in the center of the
board where the winding of the CM choke could be integrated,
as shown in Fig. 6(b). Due to the large CM inductance, a planar
electroluminescent panel (ELP) 32 core is used for the CM in- Fig. 6. (a) Circuit diagram of passive integrated filter. (b) Photograph of four-
ductor. The DM coils use two FPCs and one µ-metal (Vacuum layer PCB for one DM (two are need for the passive filter). (c) Layer stack of
Atmosphere Company (VAC) [15]) layer as magnetic path. passive integrated filter. (d) Photograph of assembled passive hybrid filter.

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BIELA et al.: PASSIVE AND ACTIVE HYBRID INTEGRATED EMI FILTERS 1343

Fig. 8. Dependence of the coupling factor k on the length of the µ-metal layer
(cf. Fig. 7)—measured values at *.

µ-metal layer for a symmetric design under DM excitation.

Consequently, the value of the DM inductance of the integrated
coils is independent of the size of the µ-metal layer.
In Fig. 7(b), the current direction and flux distribution for CM
excitation are given. Due to symmetry reasons, the CM flux of
Fig. 7. (a) Diagram of coupled coils. (b) Design of the coils. both coils ΦCM 1 and ΦCM 2 adds up and flows in the middle
between the two coils through the gap and the µ-metal layer.
The damping of the passive integrated filter mainly results The shorter the gap is, the lower the magnetic reluctance of the
from the frequency-dependent resistors R(f ), which represent path is and the higher is the CM inductance.
the high-frequency losses of the coils due to skin and proximity The ratio between the DM and the CM inductance values
effect. The geometry of the coils is designed so that the dc losses defines the coupling between the two coils (the larger the
are low, but the high-frequency losses are high enough to damp LCM /LDM , the lower is the coupling—by reducing the cou-
the filter. The damping elements at the input and output of the pling, mainly the CM inductance of the integrated structure
filter remain in order to attenuate oscillations caused by the line is increasing, while the DM inductance is approximately con-
or the input impedance of the converter. The capacitors and the stant). This relation is controlled by the horizontal extension of
resistors of the damping elements could also be integrated in the the µ-metal layer. If this layer starts at the very left side and ends
PCB using dielectric and resistive layers (e.g., HiK-material and at the very right side of the coil, the coupling is approximately
OHMEGA-PLY/Carbon Paste, respectively [16], [17]). In order zero. In Fig. 8, the dependence of the coupling factor k on the
to simplify the testing of the filter, the capacitors and resistors length of the µ-metal layer is shown for a test assembly. These
of the damping network are realized by surface mount device results have been obtained by the developed design procedure
(SMD) components in the prototype. (described later) and are validated by measuring the coupling
coefficient for different extensions of the µ-metal layer.
Since the CM current/flux has almost no spectral components
A. Design of Coupled Inductors below the switching frequency, the amplitude of the CM flux is
The symmetrically arranged DM inductors are implemented small. Therefore, the µ-metal layer, which has a saturation flux
by two coupled inductors. In Fig. 7, the principle of operation density of approximately 0.8 T, could be very thin (≈100 µm).
is shown for DM excitation in Fig. 7(a) and for CM excitation The distributed capacitance between a winding and a conduc-
in Fig. 7(b) (PCB cross section with two parallel layers each). tive layer is transformed into a network consisting of three ca-
The assembly of the coupled coils consists of the following pacitors (cf. Fig. 9) in [18]. The capacitance C is the static capac-
five different layers: itance between the winding and the conductive layer (cf. [19]).
1) magnetic layer at the top (e.g., Mag–Lam [3], FPC, As the equivalent capacitance parallel to the winding is nega-
µ-metal)—thickness: ∼1 mm; tive, it could be used to cancel the parasitic capacitance CP of
2) winding of coil 1 consisting of one or more copper layers the winding (cf. [4] and [8]). Thus, the distributed capacitance
connected in series and/or parallel; caused by the µ-metal layer could be used to reduce the value of
3) thin layer (∼100 µm) of magnetically and electrically the capacitance in parallel to the winding and to increase the fre-
conductive µ-metal (comparable to silicon steel); quency of the first resonance of the coil if the layer is connected
4) winding of coil 2 (usually, same design as coil 1 but reverse to the ground. The value of the static interlayer capacitance
winding direction); C is calculated within the design procedure and adjusted by
5) magnetic layer at the bottom (same as at the top). varying the vertical distance between the µ-metal layer and the
In Fig. 7(a), the current and the flux direction in the coils winding.
for DM excitation are shown. The current I1 in the upper coil With the construction shown in Fig. 7, where the CM flux
causes the magnetic flux ΦDM 1 and the current I2 in the lower flows through the µ-metal layer in the middle, the DM induc-
coil ΦDM 2 . In the µ-metal layer in the middle, both DM fluxes tance is larger than or equal to the CM inductance due to the
cancel each other (dashed lines) so that there is no flux in the coupling of the DM flux. If a larger CM inductance and a lower

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1344 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 5, MAY 2009

Fig. 9. Equivalent network for a distributed capacitance between a winding

and a conductive layer according to [18].

Fig. 11. DM—finite-element simulation of passive hybrid integrated EMI

filter.

(COMSOL) and analytic calculations, will be shortly explained

in the following.
At the beginning of the procedure, different parameters like
the number of layers in the PCB NL , the number of parallel
connected layers NLP , PCB size B × T , the vertical distance
between the layers tν , etc., must be specified by the user. These
parameters are not varied within the design procedure since they
mainly depend on requirements not related to the filter itself. On
the other hand, there are parameters like the number of turns N ,
the PCB width wTrack and distance wTrack , the thickness tC
of the magnetic layers, etc., which could be varied in order to
optimize the design.
With the parameters given in MATLAB, input files for FEM
simulations describing the geometry and boundary conditions
are automatically generated by the program. In the next step,
FEM simulations are carried out by the program for different
setups (CM and DM excitation, different voltage
distributions)—cf. Fig. 11. On the basis of the magnetic
and electric energies, the inductance and capacitance values
are calculated. Furthermore, the magnetic field distribution is
used to calculate the HF resistances of the coils analytically.
Thereafter, the calculated values are transformed into equivalent
circuit values of the EMI filter.
The described design routine offers the possibility to be used
Fig. 10. Flowchart of the design procedure for the integrated coils.
within an optimization routine, which varies, for example, the
number of turns and the design of the tracks in order to minimize
the filter volume or maximize the efficiency.
DM inductance are needed, the winding direction of one coil
has to be changed. In this case, a thicker magnetic middle layer IV. ACTIVE HYBRID EMI FILTER
(twice the thickness of the outer magnetic layer) is needed,
The discrete and also the passive hybrid EMI filters require
because the relatively large DM flux flows through the mid-
a large CM inductance because the value of the Y-capacitance
dle layer. The achievable maximum values for the CM and the
is limited by regulations and the corner frequency of the filter
DM inductances are the same for both design possibilities, if
is low due to the CM emission level. Since the amplitude ratio
the distance between two magnetic layers above and below one
of the high-frequency CM current and the DM current at the
PCB (i.e., the gap) is the same. Consequently, the design with
line frequency is usually relatively small, the volume of the
the changed winding direction leads to an increased volume and
CM inductor could be reduced by using an active filter. This
larger magnetic losses for the same maximum achievable induc-
active EMI filter consists of two small CM inductors, two 20 nF
tance values, and should only be used in case a CM inductance
capacitors, a measurement network, and an analog amplifier, as
is needed, which is larger than the DM one.
shown in Fig. 12(a) (cf. [20]).
With the measurement network, the CM voltage VCM caused
B. Design Procedure by the converter/load is measured via the two 1-nF capacitors.
The integrated inductors of the EMI filter are designed using The CM voltage is amplified by an analog class-A amplifier,
an automated design procedure, whose flow chart is given in which injects an inverted CM current via the two 22-nF ca-
Fig. 10. This procedure, which is based on FEM simulations pacitors into the filter network. Thus, the CM current resulting

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BIELA et al.: PASSIVE AND ACTIVE HYBRID INTEGRATED EMI FILTERS 1345

TABLE III
MATERIALS FOR CAPACITANCE INTEGRATION

Fig. 12. (a) Circuit diagram of the active hybrid integrated EMI filter.
(b) Design of the active hybrid integrated EMI filter.

from the load is canceled/reduced by the active filter. Due to

the limited gain of the amplifier and nonideal components, the
amplitude of the CM voltage/current is only reduced by approx- Fig. 13. (a) Picture of assembled active hybrid EMI filter. (b) Picture of the
imately 20 dB in the best case. PCB of one layer. (c) 3-D drawing of final assembly of active filter.
Moreover, the limited bandwidth of the amplifier requires a
reduction of the gain at higher frequencies in order to guarantee
the stability of the system. This also results in a decline of the CM damping resonances at the input and the output of the filter can
voltage/current cancelation at higher frequencies. In the limited be integrated. Due to the planar design, these capacitors show
frequency range from approximately 100 kHz up to 6 MHz, low equivalent series resistance (ESR) and equivalent series
where the voltage/current cancelation is working, the effective inductance (ESL). In Table III, some dielectric materials for
CM capacitance is increased very much by the amplifier. Thus, integrating capacitances into PCBs are shown.
a smaller CM inductance can be used to obtain the same corner Due to the relatively low permittivity of these materials, the
frequency/attenuation as for the CM filter of the discrete/passive large capacitors for the DM CDM still have to be realized as
hybrid filter. SMD capacitors that are mounted on top of the PCB besides the
The decline of the attenuation due to the limited amplifier active filter components.
bandwidth is not critical, because the effective impedance of a In Fig. 13(a), the examined prototype of the coupled coils
large CM choke also decreases with increasing frequency due to for the active filter is shown. It consists of four layers of FPC
the parasitic capacitance that causes a parallel resonant behavior 302 from Epcos with a thickness of approximately 1.3 mm, four
of the choke at higher frequencies. PCBs, each with four 105 µm layers of copper for the coils
The two CM inductors needed for the active EMI filter are [cf. Fig. 13(b)], and two layers of µ-metal. On the left-hand
integrated in the PCB, as described in the previous section. side, the terminals of the µ-metal layers are shown with which
The final design of the complete active hybrid integrated filter the layers could be connected to ground in order to reduce the
is shown in Fig. 12(b), where the components of the active parasitic capacitance. Below the pictures, a 3-D drawing of the
filter are mounted on top of the PCB. Below the active filter, final assembly of the integrated active hybrid filter is shown in
the capacitances for measuring the CM voltage and injecting Fig. 13(c). In Table IV, the technical parameters of the active
the CM current as well as the relatively small capacitances for EMI filter are listed.

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1346 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 5, MAY 2009

TABLE IV
PARAMETER OF ACTIVE HYBRID EMI FILTER

Fig. 14. Circuit for the measurement of the transfer (U 2 /U 1 ) function (filter
attenuation) and the input impedance.

Fig. 15. Comparison between the DM attenuation/transfer function (U 2 /U 1 )

and insertion loss of the active hybrid filter.

Fig. 17. (a) Transfer function of the active filter for CM with (with AMP) and
without amplifier (without AMP) and for DM. (b) Input impedance of the filter
at the load side for CM with (with AMP) and without amplifier (without AMP)
with phase (dashed lines). (c) Input impedance of the filter at the load side for
DM with phase (dashed lines).

Fig. 18. New design of the CM choke.

V. COMPARISON OF THE EMI FILTERS

Fig. 16. (a) Transfer function of the passive filter for CM with (with GND) and
In order to compare the performance of the different filters,
without connection of the µ-metal layer to ground (without GND) and for DM. measured transfer functions, losses, and volume of the discrete,
(b) Input impedance of the filter at the load side for CM and DM with phase the passive, and the active hybrid filters are presented in the
(dashed lines).
following.

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BIELA et al.: PASSIVE AND ACTIVE HYBRID INTEGRATED EMI FILTERS 1347

TABLE V
CALCULATED AND MEASURED PARAMETERS OF THE THREE COMPARED EMI FILTERS

Usually, insertion loss measurements, i.e., the ratio The comparatively low resonance frequency of the CM choke
U2 /UNoise , are used to characterize EMI filters. However, these of the passive integrated filter results in a CM attenuation curve
measurements also include the attenuation that results from the that is not as good as that of the discrete filter. The reason for this
source impedance of the measurement circuit (usually 50 Ω) and is the parasitic capacitances resulting from the planar winding
the filter capacitors (cf. Fig. 14). The source/internal impedance design. A possible alternative design of the CM choke, which
of the noise source and also the additional attenuation depend leads to reduced parasitic capacitances and also lower losses,
very much on the converter topology and the design of the con- is shown in Fig. 18, where the core is integrated in the PCB
verter. In order to obtain information about the filter attenuation by magnetic layers and the winding consists of wire or in case
that is independent of the source impedance, the transfer func- of low-power applications of PCB tracks. For the considered
tion, i.e., the ratio U2 /U1 , is used in the following. The input 600-W PFC system, the winding must be made of wires in order
voltage of the filter U1 for a given source impedance could be to keep the efficiency high. Since this would require special
calculated with the input impedance ZIN of the EMI filter, which manufacturing technologies, which are out of the focus of this
is also presented in the following. The additional attenuation be- project, this approach is not further investigated.
cause of the source impedance could be seen in Fig. 15, where In Fig. 17(a), the CM attenuation of the active integrated filter
the DM insertion loss and the transfer function for the active is shown, where it could be seen that the amplifier results in an
filter are plotted in the same graph. additional attenuation of 15–20 dB in the frequency range from
In Fig. 16, the CM and the DM attenuation and the input 400 kHz to 4 MHz. The resonant peak at approximately 160 kHz
impedance of the passive hybrid filter are given, where the two is caused by the limited gain of the amplifier. As simulations
curves for the CM show the different attenuation of the filter show, the gain could be increased by using transistors with a
when the µ-metal layer is connected to ground or free floating. higher transition frequency in the power stage of the amplifier.
Due to the additional parasitic capacitances (cf. Fig. 9), the The resonant peak around 2 MHz in the CM attenuation of the
HF behavior of the filter is improved. The resonant peak of active integrated filter is caused by the characteristic frequency
the CM attenuation between 400 and 500 kHz results from the of the integrated coils.
characteristic frequency of the CM choke. In Table V, the volume, the losses, and the efficiency of
Due to the large source impedance of the PFC converter (boost the three EMI filters are given. The values in the “modified”
inductor: 187 µH—cf. Fig. 1), the DM attenuation of the passive columns result from using Vacoflux 48 (VAC [15]), which has a
filter increases very much in the frequency range from 100 kHz saturation flux density of 2 T, instead of FPC 351/302 [14] as the
to 1 MHz, since the input impedance of the filter is relatively magnetic layer. The basic design of the inductors is the same for
low in this region. For example, at 100 kHz, approximately ad- both materials, just the higher possible maximal flux density is
ditional 20 dB results from the large source impedance resulting utilized to reduce the number of turns and therewith the losses.
in an effective attenuation larger than 40 dB for DM at 100 kHz. As can be seen, the losses and the volume of the integrated filters
In the considered frequency range, the input impedance of the can be reduced very much so that the efficiency of the integrated
active filter for DM is even lower than that of the passive filter, filters is comparable to that of the discrete filter, but the volume
which leads to a larger additional damping due to the source is reduced by more than 40%.
impedance (cf., Fig. 17). Consequently, the DM attenuation of The presented approach for the passive hybrid filter, which is
the two integrated filters is comparable to that of the discrete the more promising integration method if burst test and high-
filter and even exceeds it a bit. voltage spikes at the mains are considered, is also applied to an

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1348 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 5, MAY 2009

TABLE VI VI. CONCLUSION

PARAMETER OF THE 300W PASSIVE HYBRID EMI-FILTER
The EMI filter is a significant part of a converter in terms
of size and cost. Thus, the size of EMI filters must be reduced
and the manufacturing simplified in order to increase the power
density and reduce the cost of converter systems.
In this paper, a design procedure and measurement results for
two different integration approaches—a passive hybrid integra-
tion in a PCB and an active hybrid integration with an active EMI
filter—are presented. The filter inductors are integrated into a
PCB board that could be manufactured with standard PCB man-
ufacturing technology. Due to the integration, the filter volume
could be reduced by approximately 40% while maintaining a
high efficiency.

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[10] M. L. Heldwein, T. Nussbaumer, F. Beck, and J. W. Kolar, “Novel three-
phase CM/DM conducted emissions separator,” in Proc. 20th IEEE Annu.
Fig. 19. (a) Photograph of the discrete and (b) the integrated EMI filter of a Appl. Power Electron. Conf. Expo., Austin, TX, Mar. 6–10, 2005, vol. 2,
300-W PFC. The integrated filter utilized an ELP22 core, the CM choke, and pp. 797–802.
has in total eight 100 µ copper, two µ-metal, and four magnetic layers, where [11] T. Nussbaumer, M. L. Heldwein, and J. W. Kolar, “Differential mode input
each inductor consists of only two copper layers instead of the four layers of filter design for a three-phase buck-type unity power factor PWM rectifier
the 600-W passive hybrid filter. based on modeling of the EMC test receiver,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron.,
vol. 53, no. 5, pp. 1649–1661, Oct. 2006.
[12] M. Chen and J. Sun, “Low-frequency input impedance modeling of boost
single-phase PFC converters,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 22,
no. 4, pp. 1521–1526, Jul. 2007.
EMI filter for a 300-W PFC system. This PFC system is oper- [13] G. Spiazzi, L. Rossetto, and J. A. Pomilio, “Analysis of EMI filter induced
ating at a switching frequency of 200 kHz, and is designed for instabilities in boost power factor preregulators,” in Proc. 29th IEEE
Annu. Power Electron. Spec. Conf. (PESC 1998) Rec., May 17–22, vol. 2,
an output voltage of 400 V and an input voltage of 230 V pp. 1048–1053.
(+10%/−15%). The parameters of the filter are given in [14] [Online]. Available: http://www.epcos.de
Table VI, and in Fig. 19, photographs of the discrete and the [15] [Online]. Available: http://www.vacuumschmelze.de
[16] [Online]. Available: http://www.ohmega.com
integrated solution are given. The volume of the discrete filter [17] [Online]. Available: http://www2.dupont.com/Interra
is 22 cm3 , so that the volume could be decreased by 27% by [18] L. Oestergaard, “Modelling and simulation of the diode split transformer,”
integrating the filter in the PCB. This reduction is similar to the Ph.D. dissertation, Faculty Eng. Sc., Aalborg Univ., Aalborg, Denmark,
1999, pp. 139–169.
600-W filter, where the volume could be shrunk by roughly 23% [19] J. Biela and J. W. Kolar, “Using transformer parasitics for resonant
for the original design where ferrite foil has been utilized. converters—A review of the calculation of the stray capacitance of

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BIELA et al.: PASSIVE AND ACTIVE HYBRID INTEGRATED EMI FILTERS 1349

transformers,” in Conf. Rec. 2005 IEEE Ind. Appl. Conf. 40th IAS Annu. Marcello Lobo Heldwein (S’99–M’06) received
Meeting, Hong Kong, China, Oct. 2–6, vol. 3, pp. 1868–1875. the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineer-
[20] M. L. Heldwein, H. Ertl, J. Biela, and J. W. Kolar, “Implementation ing from the Federal University of Santa Catarina,
of a transformer-less common mode active filter for off-line converter Florianópolis, Brazil, in 1997 and 1999, respectively,
systems,” in Proc. 21th Annu. IEEE Appl. Power Electron. Conf. Expo. and the Ph.D. degree from the Swiss Federal Institute
(APEC), Dallas, TX, Mar. 19–23, 2006, p. 7. of Technology (ETH Zurich), Zurich, Switzerland, in
2007.
He is currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow
at the Power Electronics Institute (INEP), Federal
University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis,
Juergen Biela (S’04–M’06) received the diploma Brazil. From 1999 to 2001, he was a R&D engineer
(with honours) from the Friedrich-Alexander Uni- with the Power Electronics Institute, Federal University of Santa Catarina. From
versity in Erlangen, Germany in 2000 and the Ph.D. 2001 to 2003, he was an Electrical Design Engineer with Emerson Energy Sys-
degree from ETH Zurich in 2005, all in electrical en- tems, in São José dos Campos, Brazil and in Stockholm, Sweden. His current
gineering. In the course of his M.Sc. studies he dealt research interests include power factor correction techniques, static power con-
in particular with resonant DC-link inverters at the verters, multilevel converters and EMC for power electronics.
Strathclyde University, Scotland (term project) and Mr. Heldwein is currently a member of the Brazilian Power Electronic
the active control of series connected IGCTs at the Society (SOBRAEP) and of the IEEE.
Technical University of Munich (diploma thesis).
He has worked at the research department of A&D
Siemens, Germany, from 2000 to June 2001, where
he focused on inverters with very high switching frequencies, SiC components
and EMC. In July 2002, he joined the Power Electronic Systems Laboratory
(PES), ETH Zurich, to work toward the Ph.D. degree, concentrating on opti-
mized electromagnetically integrated resonant converters. From 2006 to 2007
he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow with PES and has been a guest researcher at Klaus Raggl was born in Zams, Austria, in 1980.
the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. Since 2007 he is working as Senior He received the M.Sc. degree in mechatronics from
Research Associate at PES, ETH Zurich. Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria, in
His current research interest include multi-domain modelling, design and op- 2005, and the Ph.D. degree in 2009 from the Power
timization of power electronic systems, in particular systems for future energy Electronic Systems Laboratory (PES), Swiss Fed-
distribution and pulsed power applications, advanced power electronic systems eral Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Zurich,
based on novel semiconductor technologies and integrated passive components Switzerland, in 2009.
for ultra compact and ultra efficient converter systems. At ETH Zurich, he worked on bearingless pump
systems with high power density, section drive tech-
nology, and magnetic bearings. Since April 2009, he
has been with Hilti AG, Schaan, Liechtenstein, where
he is working on high-performance drilling and demolition machines.
Alexander Wirthmueller was born in Regensburg,
Germany, on February 13, 1982. He has been study-
ing electrical engineering at the Swiss Federal In-
stitute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Zurich,
Switzerland, since October 2002. He is currently
working toward the Diploma in silicon photonics at
Columbia University, New York.
His research interests include the design of inte- Johann W. Kolar (M’89–SM’02) received the Ph.D.
grated passives for power electronics applications as degree (summa cum laude) from the University of
well as with quantum transport simulation in semi- Technology Vienna, Vienna, Austria, where he stud-
conductor devices. ied industrial electronics.
From 1984 to 2001, he was with the University
of Technology Vienna, where he was teaching and
engaged in research in close collaboration with the
industry. He has proposed numerous novel converter
Roman Waespe was born in Zurich, Switzerland, on topologies, e.g., the VIENNA rectifier and the three-
August 12, 1982. He received the Diploma degree in phase ac-ac sparse matrix converter concept. He is the
distributed generation integration from the University author or coauthor of more than 200 scientific papers
of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2007, in international journals and conference proceedings, and has filed more than
and has been studying electrical engineering at the 50 patents. In February 2001, he was appointed a Professor and the Head of
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH the Power Electronics Systems Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technol-
Zurich), Zurich, Switzerland, since October 2002. ogy Zurich, (ETH Zurich), Zurich, Switzerland. His current research interests
He is currently with the Power Electronic Sys- include ultracompact intelligent ac–ac and dc–dc converter modules employing
tems Laboratory, ETH Zurich. His research interests latest power semiconductor technology (SiC), novel concepts for cooling and
include the design of integrated passives for power active electromagnetic interference (EMI) filtering, multidisciplinary simula-
electronics as well as with real-time imaging pro- tion, bearingless motors, power microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and
cessing algorithms. wireless power transmission.

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