Analyzing and mitigating parasitic capacitances in planar transformers for high-frequency operation

Planar magnetic components are compact and less susceptible to skin effect due to their thin copper layers. However, the increase in parasitic capacitance has been a challenge in high-frequency operation of planar transformers (PTs). Parasitic capacitances resonate with inductance and may damage switch devices. Thicker printed circuit board (PCB) and reconfigured windings are suggested in this paper to mitigate the parasitic capacitances. A detailed analysis of the parasitic capacitances is performed with a prototype PT. The resonant frequency increased from 1.27 to 1.63 MHz with a 0.4 mm thicker PCB. The reconfigured PT was 1.38 MHz, 0.3 MHz higher than the original PT.