# Approaching an ideal inductor

It is common to see capacitors in parallel, with smaller and smaller capacitance, in order to reduce the parasitic ESR (and the equivalent series inductance). This allows obtaining relatively big capacitances of very low ESR. But I've not seen in the literature that a similar, dual trick, is used for inductors: to connect in series inductors of smaller and smaller inductance (and hence, generally speaking, of smaller and smaller parasitic effects), with suitable shielding. I had a look at various inductor models, and if my understanding is correct, this would reduce enormously the parallel capacitance (probably the most annoying parasitic element), as well as the parasitic parallel resistance (magnetic losses). Of course, this would also somewhat increase the ESR of the inductance, but this is not a problem in general.

My question is: is this idea correct, and where is it dealt in the literature?

• If one needs an ideal inductance then one usually uses a gyrator instead. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Sep 28 '16 at 11:05
• Maybe I'm stretching definitions a bit too much but.. a Litz wire inductor is sort using "different" inductors do minimize parasitics right? Something that I think is called "spiderweb" coil is also a topology made to reduce parasitics (by having strands of conductor less parallel than if directly wound). I think there are also some audio inductors that use foils instead of wires. – Wesley Lee Sep 28 '16 at 11:05
• Ignacio, a gyrator behaves like an inductor only at a definite frequency no ? – MikeTeX Sep 28 '16 at 11:36
• Wesley, If my idea is correct (and it is probably not), this may reduce the parasitic effects much more than a special winding topology. – MikeTeX Sep 28 '16 at 11:46
• This depends on what you're trying to do. For some applications like power conversion the ESR is extremely important, and the parallel capacitance less so. – John D Sep 28 '16 at 15:46