David Perreault - Powerful Circuits: Developments in High Frequency Power Electronics

  Powerful Circuits: Developments in High Frequency Power Electronics Electrical energy is the cornerstone of our technological infrastructure, and its use pervades our society. Energy-processing circuits -- or power electronics -- are central to our ability to efficiently create, manipulate, and utilize electrical energy. Advances in this area are becoming vital, both for addressing the growing energy challenges we face and for extending our control over the world around us. A challenge of particular importance is the miniaturization of power circuits. Likewise, advances in the performance of power electronics -- including efficiency, control bandwidth, and operating range -- are essential to reducing energy consumption and increasing functionality in myriad applications.
 This talk describes ongoing research at MIT that seeks to address the twin challenges of miniaturization and performance of power electronics. New system architectures and circuit designs are introduced that enable dramatic increases in switching frequencies (e.g., into the 3-300 MHz range). Higher frequencies are desirable because they reduce energy storage requirements, but necessitate circuit designs that either compensate for or utilize device parasitics. Furthermore, design approaches for integrated power devices and magnetics are introduced that scale well to small sizes and high frequencies and enable improved integration. Experimental results from power converters operating at frequencies to beyond 100 MHz are presented to illustrate these emerging technologies.