Shielded switch mode power inductor can have thermal copper pour beneath it?

[zenerbjt]

Dear Engineers.
We are using a LPS4012 shielded inductor placed in a 2.5W Boost converter.

We wish to put three 0.3mm thermal vias in its pad (the pad connected to vin, not the switching node pad), and run these thermal vias down to a bottom layer thermal copper pour which will be under the inductor. Please confirm that since this is a shielded inductor, it is OK to do this?

Often you hear people wanting inductors to be placed away from metal features…but with shielded inductors this surely doesn’t apply, since the magnetic field is “well contained” within the inductor’s ferrite body?

LPS4012 inductor datasheet
https://www.coilcraft.com/getmedia/a31b0140-5adf-4f7e-b7bf-5e9d605a87b9/LPS4012.pdf

 

[dick_freebird]

As thin as it is, I wouldn't rule out some flux leakage
and then your copper pour becomes a shorted
winding.

Question is whether that's marketing "well contained"
or physics "xx.x% closed magnetic circuit" (if you can't
get an xx.x out of them, bet on marketing).

If you must have the thermal plane, look at slotting
it to suppress eddy currents.

 

[Easy peasy]

it'll be fine ... the biggest issue is the high losses of COTS inductors ...