8th International Conference on Power Electronics - ECCE Asia

May 30-June 3, 2011, The Shilla Jeju, Korea

[WeD2-3]

Radiated Emissions of Multilayered Coreless

Printed Circuit Board Step-Down Power
Transformers in Switch Mode Power
Supplies
Radhika Ambatipudi1, Hari Babu Kotte1, and Kent Bertilsson1, 2
1

Department of Information Technology and Media, Mid Sweden University, Holmgatan 10, Sundsvall, Sweden, SE-85170
2
SEPS Technologies AB, Storgatan 90, Sundsvall, Sweden, SE-85170
Radhika.ambatipudi@miun.se, Tel. +46-70-4738295

Abstract-- This paper addresses radiated EMI issues in

Coreless PCB step-down transformers used for power
transfer applications. In case of SMPS circuits, since the
waveforms are not sinusoidal in nature, most of the radiated
emissions are not only from fundamental frequency
component but also from harmonic contents. According to
antenna theory, radiated EMI for three different power
transformers of different radii were estimated for
fundamental frequency of 2MHz to 300MHz. The
computations were made for both sinusoidal and square
wave excitations and at a load power of 20W. The calculated
radiated power obtained for simulated waveforms and for
practical measured current waveforms are in good
agreement with each other up to certain bandwidth. These
computational results confirm that radiated power can be
reduced in three layered 2:1 transformer compared to two
layered 2:1 transformer. Also the radiated emissions are
negligible in case of sinusoidal excitations compared to
square wave excitations.

estimation of EMI is always beneficial since it provides

the information in terms of improving the design, causes
of EMI, recommended topologies for these transformers,
etc., In case of coreless PCB transformers used for signal
transfer applications, radiated EMI was also proven to be
very negligible by considering the fundamental frequency
component according to antenna theory [4]. However, in
most of the SMPS circuits, when the transformers are
utilized for power transfer applications, it is required to
consider the effect of current harmonics, different wave
shapes and their effect on radiated emissions apart from
the fundamental component of current. Therefore, in this
paper the effect of these current harmonics for different
radius, different layers, and different excitations on
radiated EMI of the power transformers was discussed.

Index TermsHarmonics, MHz frequency of operation,

Multilayered Coreless PCB step down power transformers,
Radiated EMI.

It has been reported in [2] & [5], a two layered and

three layered coreless PCB step-down 2:1 transformers
operating in MHz frequency region were designed,
manufactured and tested for power transfer applications.
The geometrical, electrical parameters and the
determining factors of the optimal operating conditions of
these transformers such as transfer function H (f), input
impedance (Zin), and phase angle () were also discussed.
The dimensions of these transformers are illustrated in
fig.1. Transformers Tr1 and Tr2 are the three layered 2:1
step-down transformers with the primary/secondary
number of turns of 16/8 and 24/12 respectively. Whereas,
the transformer Tr0 is the two layered 2:1 transformer
with 24/12 number of primary/secondary turns.

I. INTRODUCTION
In modern SMPS, transformers are inimitable
components since some of the applications demand
electrical isolation, multiple output and high stepdown/step-up ratios [1]. Recent works on coreless PCB
transformers provides the scope to introduce the high
power density, high speed SMPS [2], [3]. In these works,
some of the misconceptions of
air core PCB
transformers such as low magnetic coupling, low voltage
gain, low input impedance were clarified for both signal
and power transfer applications. Another major
misunderstanding of coreless PCB transformers is high
radiated EMI because of absence of core. The transformer
which is of highly energy efficient without passing the
EMC tests is of no use., Therefore, it is necessary for
estimation of the amount of EMI emissions from the
transformer which is also useful to determine EMI
sources in the Switch Mode Power Supplies (SMPS). As
it would be better for reducing the delays in product
development and increased cost of production, prior

II. MULTILAYERED CORELESS PCB STEP-DOWN POWER

TRANSFORMERS

Fig. 1. Dimensions of Transformers Tr1, Tr2 and Tr0 from left-right

978-1-61284-957-7/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

These transformers were tested up to the output power

levels of approximately 25W and are highly energy
efficient of about 92-96% in 1-6MHz frequency region.
In order to utilize these transformers in SMPS
applications, it is required to find out the radiated EMI
from these transformers. Hence, the amount of radiated
EMI emitted from these transformers for various
excitations were examined in further sections.

integer harmonic components such as 1,3,5,7 etc., For

resonant converters such as series resonant, parallel
resonant and LLC converters, the current waveform is
sinusoidal in nature so that there exists no harmonic
components. Hence, often times in SMPS when coreless
PCB transformers are used, the radiated emissions are
caused not only by the fundamental component but also
by the harmonic components [9].

III. RADIATED EMI OF CORELESS PCB STEP-DOWN POWER

Therefore, for the designed two layered (Tr0) and three

layered transformers (Tr1 & Tr2) while calculating the
radiated EMI, harmonic components are also considered.

TRANSFORMERS

The designed multilayered coreless PCB transformers are

circular spiral in shape in order to obtain the higher
inductance [6] and lower interwinding capacitance
compared to other structures. Each turn of these
transformers are regarded as loop antenna [7]. According
to antenna theory for far-field radiation, the current
flowing through the loop with an angular frequency of
radiates energy into the air [8]. This radiated energy
is perpendicular to the x-y plane with an intrinsic
impedance of 377 in free space. For each frequency
there exists an associated wavelength which can be
calculated as follows.

(1)

f Hr

Where is the wavelength, c is the speed of light, f

is the frequency, r is the relative permittivity. In the
case of air core transformer, r is 1. The signal and
electrical components appears to be electrically large
when the wavelength gets reduced which occurs as the
frequency of components is increased. An antenna is
considered to be a good radiator, if its radius is close to
that of the wavelength or at least half of the wavelength
of radiated signal. For a loop antenna, the amount of time
averaged radiated power P is given as

rf
P 160S 6 Io 2
c

(2)

Where Io is the current in the loop antenna, r is radius

of the loop. From equation (2) it is clear that the radiated
power is highly influenced by radius of the loop,
frequency component and current flowing through the
loop. In previous work [8], it was proved for signal
transfer applications coreless PCB transformer acts
neither as a good loop radiator nor as a receiver and the
amount of EMI radiated from transformer is negligible.
However, this was considered only at the fundamental
frequency of operation of the transformer. Since, in most
of the SMPS circuits, the current flowing through the
transformer is not always sinusoidal in nature it consists
of harmonic components flowing through it apart from
the fundamental component. For example, in case of
flyback topology the current waveform is sawtooth in
nature which consists of both even and odd harmonic
components whereas in case of half bridge converter, the
current is of square wave in nature, it consists of only odd

Three different ways were used for computing the

radiated emissions from the transformers. These are given
as follows.
1.

2.

3.

Considering the measured primary/secondary

current waveforms of transformers when excited
with Radio Frequency (RF) Power Amplifier.
Considering the primary/secondary currents
obtained from simulations of the high frequency
model of multilayered coreless PCB step down
power transformers.
Considering the ideal sinusoidal/square waves of
primary/secondary current waveforms of same
magnitude generated from MATLAB.

IV. ESTIMATION OF RADIATED EMI IN TRANSFORMERS

FOR DIFFERENT EXCITATIONS

The power tests were conducted for three transformers

using RF Power Amplifier (BBM0A3FKO) whose
frequency range is 0.01MHz - 230MHz. Different sources
of signals such as sinusoidal and square waves are given
as input to amplifier from the signal generator and
waveforms were captured with the help of Tektronix TPS
2024 oscilloscope whose bandwidth is 200MHz with
2GS/s sampling rate. The tests were carried out with the
load resistance of 30.The operating frequency of
transformers was fixed to 2MHz with the help of external
resonant capacitor across the secondary winding of
transformer. The measurements were taken at maximum
energy efficiency frequency (MEEF) [10] of the
transformers i.e., at 2MHz by varying the resonant
capacitors across secondary winding of the transformers.
Case (i). Sinusoidal and Square wave excitation to
Transformer Tr2
a) With resonant Capacitor across secondary
winding
The three layered transformer Tr2 is excited with both
the sinusoidal and square wave excitations and the
captured waveforms from the oscilloscope are illustrated
in fig. 2 and fig. 3 respectively. Under these conditions
the load power of transformer is approximately 20W in
both the cases.

V_sec / V

V_sec
RMS/cycle=22.327994V

V_pri
RMS/cycle=53.264455V

I_sec
RMS/cycle=744.26648mA

I_pri
RMS/cycle=547.03069mA

30
20
0
-20
-30

V_pri / V

40
20
0
-20
-40
1
I_pri / A

0.6
0.2
-0.2
-0.6

I_sec / A

-1

Fig. 2. Measured waveforms of Tr2 with RL=30 . CH1 Vpri

(50V/div), CH2 Ipri (500mA/div), CH3 Vsec (20V/div), CH4 Isec
(1A/div)

0.6
0.2
-0.2
-0.6
-1

48.6

48.8

49

49.2

49.4

49.6

49.8

Time/uSecs

200nSecs/div

Fig. 5. Simulated waveforms of Tr2 with RL=30 for square wave

excitations.

For calculating the radiated power from transformer,

the harmonics of the measured primary (Ipri) and
secondary currents (Isec) were determined by using Fast
Fourier Transform (FFT). These were compared with
FFT of the simulated current wave signals obtained by
using high frequency model of these coreless PCB step
down power transformers.

The simulated voltage/current waveforms of

primary/secondary with the high frequency model for the
same power conditions with both excitations are
illustrated in fig. 4 and fig. 5.
V_sec
V_pri
I_sec

The current harmonics obtained for both the

primary/secondary currents and for sinusoidal/square
wave excitations in all the three conditions were shown in
fig. 6 & fig. 7 respectively.
Magnitude

Fig. 3. Measured waveforms of Tr2 with RL=30 . CH1 Vpri

(50V/div), CH2 Ipri (500mA/div), CH3 Vsec (20V/div), CH4 Isec
(1A/div)

Sine wave Isec Measured

0.5
0

I_pri

8
10
Harmonic Number

12

14

16

Magnitude

V_sec / V

30
10
-10

-60

12

14

16

200

Sine wave Isec SIMetrix

0.5

-200

-600
1
0.6
0.2
-0.2
-0.6
-1

8
10
Harmonic Number

12

14

16

48.4

48.6

48.8

49

49.2

49.4

49.6

49.8
200nSecs/div

Fig. 4. Simulated waveforms with RL=30 of Tr2 for sinusoidal

excitations.

Also the primary/secondary current waveforms of

same magnitude for the transformer were generated by
using MATLAB which are of perfect sine and square
wave in nature.
From fig. 2- fig. 5, we can observe that the measured
waveforms for given power conditions are in good
coordination with that of the simulated ones obtained by
using high frequency model of multilayered coreless PCB
transformer.

Square wave Isec Measured

0.5

Magnitude

48.2
Time/uSecs

Magnitude

Fig. 6. Harmonic Spectra for Sinusoidal Excitations

8
10
Harmonic Number

8
10
Harmonic Number

0.5

12

14

16

Square wave Isec MATLAB

0.5

Magnitude

I_sec / A

8
10
Harmonic Number

-20

600
I_pri / mA

20

Magnitude

V_pri / V

-30
60

Sine wave Isec MATLAB

0.5

12

14

16

Square wave Isec SIMetrix

8
10
Harmonic Number

12

14

16

Fig. 7. Harmonic Spectra for Square Wave Excitations

It can be observed from fig. (6), the current harmonics

in case of sinusoidal excitation to the transformer are zero
except at the fundamental frequency whereas in fig. (7) in
case of square wave excitation, odd order current
harmonics are present as discussed in earlier section III.

Measured Ipri
MATLAB Ipri
SIMetrix Ipri

0.01
0.005
4

5
6
7
Harmonic Frequency(MHz)

Radiated Power(nW)

Measured Isec

0.03

MATLAB Isec
SIMetrix Isec

0.02
0.01
3

5
6
7
Harmonic Frequency(MHz)

Radiated Power(nW)

Measured Ipri
4

MATLAB Ipri
SIMetrix Ipri

8
10
12
14
Harmonic Frequency(MHz)

16

18

20

Radiated Power(nW)

8
Measured Isec

100
150
200
Harmonic Frequency(MHz)

250

300

250

300

Measured Isec
2000

MATLAB Isec
SIMetrix Isec

1000

50

100
150
200
Harmonic Frequency(MHz)

Fig. 10. Radiated Power of Tr2 for Square wave Excitation over a
frequency range of 2-300MHz

In this case, the spectra obtained from the measured

waveform are shown upto 50MHz only because of the
bandwidth limitation of oscilloscope and current probes.
b) With resonant Capacitor across secondary
winding
The radiated emissions from the transformer Tr2 were
also estimated by removing the resonant capacitor across
secondary winding. The estimated radiated power of
transformer Tr2 in all the three cases was illustrated in fig.
11.
Measured Ipri
4

MATLAB Ipri
SIMetrix Ipri

MATLAB Isec

SIMetrix Isec

8
10
12
14
Harmonic Frequency(MHz)

16

18

20

16

18

20

40

2
0

50

10

While computing the radiated power the total no. of loops

of the transformer is considered. From fig. 8, it can be
seen that the radiated power obtained for measured,
simulated and idealized wave forms are almost zero
except at fundamental frequency. In all the three cases,
the radiated EMI at the fundamental frequency by the
secondary current which carries a current of about
0.8Amp is 0.0332/0.0335nW.

SIMetrix Ipri

500

0
2

Fig. 8. Radiated Power Spectra of Tr2 for Sinusoidal Excitation

MATLAB Ipri

10

Radiated Power(nW)

0.04

Measured Ipri

1000

0
2

Radiated Power(nW)

8
10
12
14
Harmonic Frequency(MHz)

16

18

20

Fig. 9. Radiated power Spectra of Tr2 for Square wave Excitation

Radiated Power(nW)

Radiated Power(nW)

0.02
0.015

From fig. 8 and fig. 9, it can be observed that for the

same operating conditions, the radiated power from the
square wave excitation is much higher than with the
sinusoidal excitation. The radiated power of transformer
Tr2 is also shown in fig. 10 for the frequency range of
fundamental to 300MHz as for class B equipment the
radiated limits are applicable from 30MHz-300MHz.
Radiated Power(nW)

The above current harmonics were passed into the

equation (2) and the corresponding radiated power was
estimated at their frequency components and illustrated in
fig. 8 & fig. 9.

the radiated power achieved for idealized current

waveform.

MATLAB Isec
SIMetrix Isec

20
10
0

The radiated power in case of square wave excitation

is increasing in nature because of the presence of these
odd order harmonics and high influence of frequency.
Here, in this case the radiated power obtained for the
measured current waveform is in good agreement with
that of the obtained radiated power from simulated
current waveform whereas it gets slightly deviated from

Measured Isec

30

8
10
12
14
Harmonic Frequency(MHz)

Fig. 11. Radiated power spectra of Tr2 for square wave excitation
without resonant capacitor across secondary winding

It can be observed from fig. 9 and fig. 11, that the

radiated emissions of transformer in case of without any
resonant capacitor are higher compared to that of placing

Case (ii): Square wave excitation to Transformer Tr1

Radiated Power(nW)

The transformer Tr1 of diameter 20mm is excited with

square wave for the same output power level and the
spectra of radiated power is illustrated in fig. 12.
800

Measured Ipri

600

MATLAB Ipri

400

Radiated Power(nW)

SIMetrix Ipri

50

100
150
200
Harmonic Frequency (MHz)

400

Measured Isec

300

MATLAB Isec

200

250

300

250

300

SIMetrix Isec

100
0

50

100
150
200
Harmonic Frequency(MHz)

Measured Ipri
4000

MATLAB Ipri
SIMetrix Ipri

2000

50

100
150
200
Harmonic Frequency(MHz)

250

300

250

300

6000
Measured Isec
4000

MATLAB Isec
SIMetrix Isec

2000
0

50

100
150
200
Harmonic Frequency(MHz)

Fig. 13. Radiated power of Tr0 for Square wave Excitation over
a frequency range of 2-300MHz

V. CONCLUSIONS

200
0

Radiated Power(nW)

In all the three ways, the radiated power estimated by

using the MATLAB gives the worst case radiated power
compared to that of obtained from simulated and
measured currents when the transformer is excited with
square wave excitations.

Radiated Power(nW)

a resonant capacitor across secondary winding. This is

because of the filtering action of resonant capacitor
including the interwinding capacitance with the leakage
inductance of transformer.

Fig. 12. Radiated Power of Tr1 for Square wave Excitation

over a frequency range of 2-300MHz

It can be observed from fig. 10 & fig. 12, the radiated

power from the transformer Tr1 is less compared to that
of the transformer Tr2. The amount of radiated power
emitted from transformer Tr1 due to secondary currents is
reduced by about 6 times compared to transformer Tr2 for
the same load power throughout the spectra due to the
reduced radius of transformer Tr1.
Case (iii): Square wave excitation to Transformer Tr0
The two layered transformer of outermost diameter of
37mm is excited with square wave excitation and the
resultant radiated power spectrum is shown in fig. 13.
From fig. 10 and fig. 13, it can be observed that the
radiated power from the two layered transformer is higher
than with the three layered transformer of 30mm
diameter. It can be observed that the radiated power of
transformer Tr0 due to primary/secondary currents was
increased by a factor of 2.6 times compared to
transformer Tr2. Already it was proved that the energy
efficiency of the three layered transformer is higher than
that of the two layered transformer [5] and here also in
terms of EMI three layered transformer is better
compared to two layer transformer.

The radiated EMI because of harmonic components were

estimated from fundamental frequency-300MHz for three
different transformers with the same output power level
of 20W. The radiated emissions in case of square wave
excitations are more dominant compared to sinusoidal
excitations because of the presence of odd harmonics.
Therefore, it is preferred to use these coreless PCB
transformers in resonant topologies as they process power
in sinusoidal manner which leads to lower radiated EMI.
The radiated power also gets reduced by placing a
secondary resonant capacitor which is a highly desirable
feature for SMPS. For the same power levels, it can be
also concluded that the radiated EMI is more significantly
contributed by the radius of the transformer and incase of
Tr1 it is reduced by 6 times compared to Tr2. In the
comparison of two layered and three layered
transformers, it can be concluded that the three layered
transformers are preferable compared to two layered
transformer in terms of EMI. These calculations provide
the scope for estimating the amount of radiated power
from the coreless PCB transformer for different
excitations, different radii prior to the design of
transformers for a given application. It is also helpful for
further investigation of various techniques to shield the
magnetic field, required filters to meet the regulations for
power transformers. Further the exact estimation of the
radiated power from the measured waveforms can also be
obtained with the help of high bandwidth about few GHz
oscilloscopes and current probes.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank Mid Sweden University,
VINNOVA, The Swedish Energy Agency, County
Administrative Board in Vsternorrland and European
Union for their financial support.
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