Magnetic core with hard ferromagnetic biasing layers and structures containing same

A horizontally-laminated planar magnetic core comprising:

• a plurality of ferromagnetic layers that includes a plurality of hard ferromagnetic layers and a plurality of soft ferromagnetic layers, wherein:
• each ferromagnetic layer comprises one of the soft ferromagnetic layers or one of the hard ferromagnetic layers, and
• each hard ferromagnetic layer is a neighboring ferromagnetic layer of at least one soft ferromagnetic layer, and
• a plurality of insulating layers, each insulating layer disposed between adjacent ferromagnetic layers,
• wherein:
• each ferromagnetic layer has an easy axis of magnetization parallel to a principal plane of the planar magnetic core, and the easy axes of magnetization are aligned,
• the plurality of hard ferromagnetic layers includes a top hard ferromagnetic layer disposed as a top ferromagnetic layer,
• the plurality of hard ferromagnetic layers includes a bottom hard ferromagnetic layer disposed as a bottom ferromagnetic layer,
• the plurality of soft ferromagnetic layers are disposed between the top and bottom hard ferromagnetic layers,
• the top and bottom hard ferromagnetic layers are each magnetized to produce a respective bias magnetic flux through the top and bottom hard ferromagnetic layers, respectively, in a first direction that is parallel to the easy axes of magnetization in the top and bottom hard ferromagnetic layers,
• the respective bias magnetic flux through the top hard ferromagnetic layer forms a closed loop through a first neighboring soft ferromagnetic layer,
• the respective bias magnetic flux through the bottom hard ferromagnetic layer forms a closed loop through a second neighboring soft ferromagnetic layer, and
• the respective bias magnetic flux passes through the first and second neighboring soft ferromagnetic layers in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction.