ESE Fall Seminar – “Architectures, Topologies and Control for High-Frequency Power Electronics”

Power converters designed for higher frequency operation than conventional designs can be smaller and lighter. However, to gain these benefits and maintain high reliability the converters also need to be more efficient, as smaller converters offer less surface area for heat removal. The development of efficient, small and light weight power converters can benefit from converter architectures that leverage novel topologies and control techniques. Using examples from my group’s research on compact and high-efficiency power converters, this talk will highlight the opportunities and challenges at the frontiers of high-frequency power electronics. One focus of the talk will be on new power electronic converter architectures that target high power densities and high efficiencies for wide operating range applications. Another focus of the talk will be on emerging power electronic enabled applications, including wireless power transfer systems suitable for powering in-motion mobile platforms and radio-frequency power amplifiers for compact particle accelerators. The talk will also identify directions for future work in the area of high performance power electronic converters.