Doctoral Dissertation
Compact high frequency power conversion for high voltage applications
Performance of high-voltage power converters has lagged their low-voltage counterparts on many metrics including power density, efficiency, transient response, and cost. This research presents newly developed circuit techniques and design strategies that allow high-voltage power supplies to be many times smaller and more efficient than the traditional high-voltage supplies on the market today. By implementing unique resonant circuit topologies capable of operating efficiently at 10s of MHz, passive component size is reduced to a fraction of the volume and mass when compared with conventional lower frequency designs. Novel strategies for improving the voltage gain of resonant dc-dc converters without loss in efficiency and stability are presented. This work provides several examples of high-gain resonant converters and demonstrates their benefits when used in various scientific applications. Specifically, several multi-kV prototypes are tested that achieve power densities exceeding 100 watts per cubic inch for conversion ratios of up to 130 and dc-dc efficiencies reaching 90 %. Various power levels are proven from 10s of watts to 2~kW with output voltages reaching 15 kV.