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IN THIS ISSUE:
» New Capacitors Offer Better Balance Of Performance, Reliability And Cost For LEO Satellites
» Spurious Turn-On Investigation For SiC MOSFETs In Hard-Switched Half-Bridges
» Focus On Magnetics:
Measuring Accurately To 10 MHz With Fluxgate Balanced-Core Current Transducers
» New on How2Power.com
» Power Products
» Industry Events
» Other Top Power News
From the Editor's Desk David G. Morrison
Editor, HOW2POWER TODAY
Space applications continue to drive extensive development of power components and converters as evidenced by exhibits and presentations at two recent conferences, NSREC and CMSE. In surveying the product news from these events, it’s easy to focus on the many introductions of rad-tolerant parts, as these are often accompanied by the “New Space” label associated with the launch of so many LEO satellites. However, many new rad-hard parts are being introduced too and the bigger picture seems to be one of variety and options. The power semiconductor companies with rad-hard portfolios are tending to expand by offering similar functions in different packages (hermetic and plastic) and radiation-resistance levels (rad hard and rad tolerant) for varying mission requirements. As part of this growth, new power ICs compliant with the QML-P packaging standard for rad-hard plastic are coming to market. There’s a similar trend among power converter suppliers to offer more rad-tolerant products, while still adding rad-hard ones, and giving customers the choice of either hybrid- or pc-board-based models. “Filling out the product line” seemed to be a common refrain among power product vendors at NSREC. But then there were also newer vendors at the conferences, showing or presenting on their new space-grade transistors, for example. Component sourcing for space, in general, remains a popular topic of discussion in the industry, particularly with regard to alternate-grade and COTS parts (also the subject of a capacitors article in this issue). In terms of more-advanced power technology seen at the conferences, the rollouts of new GaN power devices and GaN-based converters are ongoing, reference designs abound, and AMD’s FPGAs continue to inspire complex power management reference designs—this year it was the Versal ACAP. Read more about these and other developments in our recent article on CMSE 2024 and our soon-to-be published report on NSREC 2024 (see below). For those with more terrestrial interests, please enjoy the other design features, product stories and industry news presented in this issue.
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HOW2POWER EXCLUSIVE DESIGN ARTICLES 
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New Capacitors Offer Better Balance Of Performance, Reliability And Cost For LEO Satellites
by Ron Demcko, Daniel West and Ryan Messina, KYOCERA AVX, Fountain Inn, S.C.
The global low-Earth-orbit LEO satellite market has morphed into a reasonably sized market with the promise of solid growth over time, and more LEO satellites than ever are being built worldwide. This in turn has led a growing number of passive component manufacturers to dedicate research and development efforts to producing components specifically optimized for LEO satellite designers. Two such capacitor developments are high-capacitance-per-unit-volume (high-CV) multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) and enhanced-reliability commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) bulk capacitors. In this article, we’ll discuss these developments with a focus on two recently introduced series, which address the needs for low-cost alternatives to MIL-PRF-32535 MLCCs in the hardware development phase and to MIL-PRF-55365 tantalums for in-flight use.
Read the article…
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The EM series MLCCs have similar
material, mechanical and electrical
characteristics (and traceability) as
flight-grade MIL-PRF-32535 MLCCs,
making them suitable as low-cost
alternatives for prototyping. |
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While bipolar drive can prevent
spurious turn-on in hard-switched
half-bridges, it comes at a cost, so
ideally it would be preferable to apply
unipolar drive with its various benefits. |
Spurious Turn-On Investigation For SiC MOSFETs In Hard-Switched Half-Bridges
by Nico Fontana, Infineon Technologies Austria, Villach, Austria
High-voltage 650-V and 750-V silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are key enablers for hard-switching half-bridge topologies. However, in these designs, the SiC MOSFETs may encounter spurious or random turn-ons. These events are not well documented, but they can cause increased switching losses and, in worst case, device failures if not prevented or minimized. To understand these occurrences better, an in-depth study was conducted. In this article, a series of double-pulse test measurements are presented that compare the reverse-recovery charge of commercially available SiC MOSFETs under unipolar versus bipolar driving. This allows us to evaluate the impact of spurious turn-on on circuit performance under unipolar driving, and to quantify the performance differences between these two driving schemes under different circuit conditions. Based on that some guidance is offered on the use of unipolar driving of SiC MOSFETs. Read the article…
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FOCUS ON MAGNETICS
Sponsored by Payton Planar Magnetics
A monthly column presenting information on power magnetics design, products, or related technology |
Measuring Accurately To 10 MHz With Fluxgate Balanced-Core Current Transducers
by Roland Bürger, Morten Birkerod Lillholm and Henrik Elbæk, Danisense, Taastrup, Denmark
For several decades, zero-flux current transducers have been used to extend the measuring range of power analyzers. Common devices usually have a bandwidth in the three-digit kilohertz range. However, when using wide-bandgap semiconductor modules, switching frequencies between 20 kHz and 100 kHz are widely used to generate sinusoidal current signals without heavy and expensive filter elements. At such switching frequencies, harmonics can be detected up to the megahertz range and provide active and reactive power components. As a result, to measure current accurately in such applications, bandwidths wider than those of conventional current sensors are required. This article presents a zero-flux current transducer developed by Danisense (the DW500UB-2V) that can provide linear transmission behavior up to 10 MHz.
Read the article…
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A zero-flux balanced-core design. This article
discusses the sensor’s accuracy requirements for
measuring efficiency, the sources of measurement
error, and how this transducer design overcomes
typical bandwidth limitations. |
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NEW ON HOW2POWER.COM
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CMSE 2024 Presented Developments In Power Component Standards, Sources And Reliability
At the 27th annual Components for Military & Space Electronics Conference & Exhibition, speakers presented developments in electronic components, materials and packaging, including power-related talks on the QML-P packaging standard, rad-hard MOSFET development, a COTS power supply failure analysis and transient-induced failures in magnetics.
Read the article …
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NSREC Notes: News About The Latest Space-Grade Power Products
Coming Soon In Space Power
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POWER PRODUCTS |
Texas Instruments’ DRV7308
GaN IPM. |
GaN IPM Enables Smaller, More Efficient High-Voltage Motors
 Diagram: Because of its high efficiency, the 650-V three-phase GaN IPM for 250-W motor drives eliminates the need for an external heatsink, shrinking motor-drive-inverter-PCB size by up to 55% compared to competing IPM solutions, according to the vendor. The integration of a current sense amplifier, protection features and inverter stage further reduces solution size and cost.
See the full story…
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Advanced Energy Industries’
FlexiCharge FC2500 capacitor
charger. |
Capacitor Charger And Power Supply Eases Design Of Medical Laser Systems
Photo: Delivering up to 3300 W of total power, the FC2500 is a high-voltage 2.5-kJ capacitor charger and low-voltage power supply in one package. It serves as a power supply for laser, IPL and electrosurgery systems, saving size, weight and development time and enabling faster patient treatment through faster charging.
See the full story…
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Silicon Mobility’s OLEA U310
Field Programmable Control Unit. |
Field Programmable Controller Replaces Up To Six MCUs For EV Power Train Control And Energy Management
Drawing: The SoC embeds multiple software and hardware programmable processing and control units while seamlessly integrating functional safety and cybersecurity into its core design. A single device can control in parallel an inverter, a motor, a gearbox, a dc-dc converter and an on-board-charger.
See the full story…
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Infineon Technologies’ PSOC
Control microcontrollers. |
MCU Family Targets Motor Control And Power Conversion Applications
Photo: Based on the Arm Cortex -M33 core, the MCUs deliver on-board functionality to optimize and accelerate the current measurement, waveform generation and real-time performance operations that play a critical role in the targeted industrial and consumer applications.
See the full story…
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INDUSTRY EVENTS
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IECON Announces Plenary Speakers And Tutorials
IECON, the Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, which will be held Nov 3-6, 2024 in Chicago has announced the speaker lineup for its opening plenary session, which will have the theme “Deciphering the Grid Modernization Puzzle: Perspectives from Leading Experts”. The conference has also posted details on its 10 tutorials, which feature topics such as “Innovations and Progress in Model Predictive Control for Power Electronics Applications”.
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EOS/ESD Symposium Announces Tutorial Program
The 46th annual EOS/ESD Symposium and Exhibits, which will be held September 14-19, 2024 in Reno, NV, has introduced its 2024 tutorial & certification program. Whether you are new to ESD or have been in the industry for many years, there are tutorials and certification options for you. Find the descriptions of the tutorials in this article and use the code “TUTORIAL2024” when signing up to receive a $100 savings. Read the full story…
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The U.S. Department of Energy has announced $41 million for 14 projects to develop Renewables-to-Liquids technologies for harnessing renewable energy sources like wind and solar to produce liquids for sustainable fuels or chemicals that can be easily transported and stored.
onsemi has announced a supply agreement with the automaker Volkswagen Group to provide a complete power box solution for its next-generation electric vehicles.
Innoscience has responded to Infineon’s lawsuits by denouncing the latter’s accusations of patent infringement.
Integrals Power has launched the UK’s first zero-emission pilot plant to accelerate the LFP battery manufacturing industry.
Vitesco Technologies, a supplier of modern drive technologies and electrification solutions, has selected Infineon’s GaN to improve the power efficiency of its Gen5+ GaN Air dc-dc converter.
The IEC TC101 Committee on Electrostatics held its annual meeting in Shenzhen, China, from June 23 to June 28, 2024. For highlights, click here.
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