Air Core Inductor

An air core inductor is an inductor that does not use iron, ferrite, or another magnetic material as its core. Instead, the winding has an air space or uses a nonmagnetic support. Some air core inductors are self-supporting. Others are wound around plastic, ceramic, or another material that does not act as a magnetic core.

Like other inductors, an air core inductor stores energy in a magnetic field when electrical current flows through the wire. It also resists sudden changes in current. The amount of inductance depends on the coil’s physical design.

Several factors can affect inductance. These include the number of wire turns, coil diameter, length, and spacing between turns. Changing any of these features can change how the inductor performs.

Air-core inductors usually need more turns or a larger size to reach the same inductance as a coil with a magnetic core. However, they also have useful benefits. Because they have no magnetic core, they do not experience magnetic core saturation. They also avoid some losses linked to magnetic core materials.

These features make air core inductors useful in many radio-frequency and high-frequency applications. They are useful when stable performance and low core loss are important.