University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

A power supply circuit for gate driver of flying capacitor multi-level converters

Ye, Zichao

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/93072

Description

Title
A power supply circuit for gate driver of flying capacitor multi-level converters
Author(s)
Ye, Zichao
Issue Date
2016-07-19
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Pilawa-Podgurski, Robert
Department of Study
Electrical & Computer Eng
Discipline
Electrical & Computer Engr
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
  • power electronics
  • power converter
  • flying capacitor multilevel converter
  • multi-level converter
  • gate driver
  • power supply
  • bootstrap
  • charge pump
  • isolated dc/dc converter
Abstract
This work investigates new circuits to provide power for the gate drivers of flying capacitor multi-level (FCML) converters. FCML converters with new GaN power switches have received increased attention due to their potential to achieve high conversion efficiency and high power density. However, one of the major challenges is providing power to its gate drive circuits, as the terminals do not have constant references. The most common existing method utilizes an isolated DC/DC converter, which is bulky and energy inefficient. This thesis introduces three new techniques termed cascaded bootstrap, double charge pump and gate-driven charge pump. A new power supply circuit combining the three techniques altogether is developed and used to deliver the required gate voltage using internally available voltage nodes. The proposed circuit can help shrink the size of the overall converter, and further increase conversion efficiency. Prototypes have been built to show the functionality and simplicity of the circuit. Experimental results show that the proposed circuit is up to 3x more power efficient than the current method, at 1/10 of the cost.
Graduation Semester
2016-08
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/93072
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2016 Zichao Ye

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