United States

This paper presents the hardware development of a 1-kV, 500-A solid state circuit breaker (SSCB) based on the newly proposed T-type Modular Dc Circuit Breaker (T-Breaker) system. The novel T-Breaker is a paradigm shift from traditional solutions in that it integrates fault current management and transient compensation functions in one system. The demonstrated T-Breaker system has a modular structure with two SiC-based half bridge sub-modules on each arm. The prototype has been tested to be 99.58% efficient at 500 A and breaks up to 5 kA of fault current.

IEEE WiPDA 2021

Development of a 1 kV, 500 A, SiC-Based T-Type Modular Dc Circuit Breaker (T-Breaker)

The IEEE Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices & Applications (WiPDA) provides a forum for device scientists, circuit designers, & application engineers from the Power Electronics & Electron Devices Societies to share technology updates, research findings, experience & potential applications.

**Topics of interest**

* Heteroepitaxial & Bulk Materials Growth
* Gate Dielectrics & Surface Passivation
* Device Structures & Fabrication Techniques
* Device Characterization & Modeling
* Very-High Efficiency or Compact Converters
* Safe Operating Areas of Wide Bandgap Devices, Including Short Circuit, Spike, & Transient Tolerance
* Harsh Environment (High Temperature) Operation & Reliability
* Packaging Power Modules & ICs
* Hard-Switched & Soft-Switched Application Analysis
* Gate Drive & Other Auxiliary Circuits
* High-Performance Passive Components
* Applications in Renewable Energy & Energy Storage, Transportation, Industrial Drives, & Grid Power Systems
* Wide Band Gap System Design Philosophies & Strategies
* Radio Frequency (RF) GaN (New)
* Technology Roadmap of Wide Bandgap Including Devices, Applications and Packaging (New)

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The IEEE Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices & Applications (WiPDA) provides a forum for device scientists, circuit designers, & application engineers from the Power Electronics & Electron Devices Societies to share technology updates, research findings, experience & potential applications.

technical paper

The power electronics industry is adopting Gallium Nitride (GaN) devices for use in switching power converters, and engineers need to understand how GaN HEMTs perform in-circuit. Given that dynamic resistance varies with operating conditions, in-circuit characterization provides an invaluable measurement tool. Aerospace has developed a method that works independently of the power stage topology, using inexpensive and widely available measurement hardware. Instead of the traditional clamp, the circuit actively controls the open-loop power-stage and directly senses the on-state voltage. This approach enables measurement in the application’s power stage, which includes the true current-voltage loci and parasitic elements, providing more insight than pulsed IV or double pulse measurements.

A Generalized Circuit for Measuring GaN Dynamic Resistance

DC and battery-powered motor applications are shifting from conventional silicon MOSFET-based, low PWM frequency inverters to GaN-based, high-frequency PWM
inverters. The advantages lie in the higher system efficiency and in the elimination of the electrolytic capacitors, and the DC input filter. In this paper, gallium nitride-based devices are shown to increase power density to a new level and move to high-frequency PWM inverters with negligible dead time for electric motors used
in many different applications including, but not limited to servo drives, e-bikes, e-scooters, collaborative and low-voltage robot, medical robots, industrial drones, and service-motors used in automobiles.

GaN Devices for Motor Drive Applications

This paper presents a comparison between the operation of a 13.56 MHz Class Phi2 inverter using one or multiple gallium nitride (GaN) switching devices in parallel. In high-frequency, high-power applications such as plasma generation, the GaN device is advantageous due to its low switching losses and on-resistance, evident in 
simulations. However, as the frequency and power increase, the power dissipation in the devices increases. Using device parallelization for current splitting, we can reduce the losses, which leads to lower device heating, thereby reducing device stress and enhancing the overall thermal management. This paper shows that current splitting effectively reduces the temperature rise across an individual switching device. Using the optimal number of paralleled devices, the steady-state case temperature of each device is almost halved in a multi-device inverter compared to a single-device inverter.

Paralleling Devices in a 13.56 MHz Class Φ2 Inverter to Achieve Current Splitting and Improve Device Thermal Performance

We present a capacitor-based multilevel gate driver for GaN HEMTs. The proposed gate driver suppresses false turn-on and reduces the reverse conduction loss with a single voltage supply. It has a capacitor which operates as a negative voltage supply to pull the gate terminal instantly to suppress false turn-on and then the gate terminal goes back to 0 V to reduce the reverse conduction loss with RC discharge. The proposed and conventional gate drivers are implemented on a 48V-to-12V synchronous buck converter. At 500 kHz and 24 W, efficiencies of the proposed and conventional gate drivers are 93.6% and 86.7% respectively. With the proposed gate driver at 48 W, the peak of ringing due to turning on of high-side switch is 0.45 V.

A Capacitor-Based Multilevel Gate Driver for GaN HEMT Only with a Single Voltage Supply

This work presents a novel approach for the optimization of a self-oscillating power converter (Royer converter) based on GaN HEMTs for inductively coupled wireless power transfer applications. By combining gallium nitride high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) as power transistors and depletionmode (silicon) transistors as control transistors, not only the better intrinsic performance of GaN is used, but also all auxiliary supply voltages can be omitted in comparison to the standard silicon transistor-based Royer converter. This paper describes the functional principle with the aid of a simulation based on an inhouse extended power transistor model and optimized transistor parameters. Then it gives insight into the novel prototype and demonstrates the operation at a resonance frequency and an output power of up to 500 kHz and 90W at 30 V input voltage with peak efficiencies above 94 % for the whole wireless power transfer system. Finally, the limitations and further optimizations for such Royer converter systems will be discussed.

Optimization of Self-Oscillating Power Converter Based on GaN HEMTs for Wireless Power Transfer

The presentation introduces an isolated bidirectional dc/dc converter for battery energy storage applications. Two main features of the proposed circuit topology are the high voltage-conversion ratio and reduced battery current ripple. The circuit operation principles and circuit optimization guidelines are introduced. A 1-kW, 300-kHz, 400 V/20-33 V GaN-based circuit prototype preliminary test results are presented.

An Isolated Bidirectional DC-DC Converter with High Voltage Conversion Ratio and Reduced Output Current Ripple

This paper describes the manufacturing procedure, testing and application of a high temperature (HT) and radiation tolerant silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor device technology used to fabricate a stepper motor driver circuit for HT spacecraft applications. The proposed circuit employs 4H-SiC MOSFET technology and diodes designed to operate at high ambient temperatures (>400oC). The discrete FET portion of test dies is comprised of various widths and lengths of n- and p-channel discrete FETs for device optimization and compact model development, which is achieved by engineering doping profiles in conjunction with innovative device designs. The fabricated circuit consists of a logic synthesizer sub-system consisting of various HT logic gate modules and ring oscillators along with a specialized HT gate driver circuit. The proposed system is used to drive a 12V stepper motor at varying speeds in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions. Control schemes for a digital logic gate based unidirectional control and closed loop bidirectional control are also implemented with a customizable directional and stall control capabilities. The proposed topology uses all low side power devices and high side diodes to gain the advantage of single shared gate driver circuit for cost effectiveness and reliability enhancement. Results at 600oC environment report a conversion efficiency of 98%, with a Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) of 450 k-hours, which validates the proposed technology to be suitable for HT power conversion.

Design and Fabrication of SiC Based Stepper Motor Driver for High-Temperature Environments

This work features a highly efficient high power density dc-dc converter based on a soft switching capable, dual-active-bridge topology. Moreover, to reduce switching losses at high frequencies and consequently minimize the size of the passive components, modern 1200 V silicon carbide half bridge modules are used. Furthermore, to decrease the size of the cooling apparatus, compact 3D-printed fluid coolers are utilized.
These measures that has been stated previously resulted in a highly integrated active part of the converter with a total box volume of 8dm^3 including the semiconductor switches, capacitors and sensors for a 200 kW unit. The first prototype shows a power density capability of 6.48 kW/dm^3 at a maximum power output of 201 kW. The design of this converter and its advanced cooling concept as well as in-operation measurements will be presented.

Highly Integrated 200 kW SiC Three-Phase Dual-Active-Bridge Converter with 3D-Printed Fluid Coolers

The fast switching transients of wide-bandgap power semiconductor devices lead to reduced switching losses and thereby enable higher switching frequencies and power densities. However, these fast switching transients increase the stress on
insulation materials and can cause accelerated aging of the insulation system, leading to premature failure. To fully exploit the advantages of wide-bandgap power semiconductor devices, it is crucial to investigate the effects of steep voltage slopes on insulation materials. For this purpose, a dv/dt generator that enables insulation testing with adjustable fast switching transients and generates symmetrical voltage slopes of up to 166 V/ns is introduced in this presentation. Its fast short-circuit protection ensures safe operation even for destructive insulation tests.

SiC-Based dv/dt Generator for Insulation Testing with Fast and Adjustable Switching Transients

As motor drive inverters continue to employ Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) devices for power density improvements, sensorless motor control strategies can be developed with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) to take advantage of high inverter switching frequencies. Through the FPGA’s parallel processing capabilities, a high control bandwidth sensorless control algorithm can be employed. Sensorless motor control offers cost reductions through the elimination of mechanical position sensors or more reliable electric drive systems by providing additional position and speed information of the electric motor. Back electromotive force (EMF) estimation or model-based methods used for motor control provide precise sensorless control at high speeds; however, they are unreliable at low speeds. High frequency injection (HFI) sensorless control demonstrates an improvement at low speeds through magnetic saliency tracking. In this work, a sinusoidal and square-wave high frequency injection sensorless control method is utilized to examine the impact an interior permanent magnet synchronous machine’s (IPMSM) fundamental frequency, injection frequency, and switching frequency have on the audible noise spectrum and electrical angle estimation. The audible noise and electrical angle estimation are evaluated at different injection voltages, injection frequencies, switching frequencies, and rotor speeds.

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Development of a 1 kV, 500 A, SiC-Based T-Type Modular Dc Circuit Breaker (T-Breaker)

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A Generalized Circuit for Measuring GaN Dynamic Resistance

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