Multi-terminal inductor for integrated circuit

A multi-terminal inductor, comprising:

• a semiconductor substrate;
• an interconnect structure having a plurality of metal layers disposed over the semiconductor substrate;
• a passivation layer disposed over an uppermost surface of the interconnect structure;
• a magnetic layer disposed over the passivation layer;
• a plurality of inductor units including a plurality of conductive wires, respectively, spaced apart from one another and arranged over the magnetic layer, wherein a first inductor unit of the plurality of inductor units includes a dielectric layer extending over a first conductive wire of the first inductor unit and includes a first terminal and a second terminal that extend through the dielectric layer to provide electrical connections to the first conductive wire of the first inductor unit;
• and
• a connection structure disposed over the dielectric layer and having conductive traces electrically coupled to the first and second terminals, wherein the connection structure electrically couples some, but not all, of the plurality of inductor units in series with one another.

A method, comprising:

• forming an interconnect structure having a plurality of metal layers over a semiconductor substrate;
• forming a passivation layer over an uppermost surface of the interconnect structure;
• forming a first magnetic layer over the passivation layer;
• forming a plurality of conductive wires spaced apart from one another over the first magnetic layer;
• forming a dielectric layer over the plurality of conductive wires;
• forming a plurality of solder bumps over the dielectric layer, wherein different solder bumps of the plurality of solder bumps are electrically coupled to different conductive wires;
• and
• selectively connecting a printed circuit board (PCB) having conductive traces to some, but not all, of the plurality of solder bumps.