• Kyle Mouldenhauer, Field and Applications Engineer, Bourns, Inc
  • Cathal Sheehan, Senior Technical Market Manager, Bourns, Inc.
  • Kasra Latifi Fard, Power Electronic Design Engineer, NanoStructured Coatings, Co.
  • Ivan Fumagalli, RAMS Engineer, Eldor Corporation
  • Inam Saudagar, Electronic Controls Hardware Engineer, Fisher & Paykel Technologies
  • Bhanu Prakash Villuri, Lead Project Engineer, Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.
  • Dr. Thomas Yilun Luo, Advanced Power Inverter Design and Analysis Engineer, General Motors
  • Aleksei Zhmakin, Senior Hardware Design Engineer, Arrival

8 Experts on Magnetic Solutions for Next-Generation Applications was generously sponsored by Bourns and Mouser Electronics.

Invented over a century ago, magnetic components still remain among the most fundamental and ubiquitous electronic components in the world today.

Magnetics can largely be defined as passive electronic components that rely on the interplay among voltages, currents, and magnetic fields to perform a given function. Within this, the most fundamental magnetic components are inductors and transformers, both of which are physically constructed of coil windings, often around specialized core materials.

Today, these components can be found in virtually every electronic circuit, system, and product that you encounter. The reason for this ubiquity is the wide array of applications that magnetics serve. Among these, some of the most important and common applications of magnetics include power electronics, signal transmission, and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) compliance.

As magnetics are so fundamental and widely used, there has become a huge variety of offerings available on the market. This enormous selection can make it increasingly difficult to sift through the options and find a good magnetic component for your application. Generally speaking, three of the most important criteria that define a “good” magnetic component are efficiency, safety, and reliability.

Efficiency is an important specification because magnetic components tend to be large contributors to a circuit’s overall power consumption. In general, the better the component’s efficiency, the more power efficient the circuit will be and the less thermal relief the design will require.

Safety is equally important, owing to the fact that magnetic components tend to be applied in high-voltage and AC applications. In these scenarios, the risk of injury to a user or damage to a board is significantly increased. As a result, the safety ratings of magnetics will often determine the overall safety of a product.

Finally, reliability is important to ensure that a circuit will provide high performance over a long period of time. Without high reliability, other component specifications like efficiency and safety can be compromised, ultimately compromising the system as a whole.

This eBook explores magnetic components, their many applications, and the ways that real engineers in the industry work with them. Read on to see how Bourns helps its customers achieve the best performance possible by providing high-quality magnetic solutions for all of the major magnetics applications.