High voltages and high currents circulating in EVs make the fundamentals of electrical isolation techniques an important topic. Ross Sabolcik, Silicon Labs AS automotive designs move toward electrification, high-wattage power electronics become critical to new electronic drivetrain and battery systems. In these applications, digital controllers safely interface with the high-voltage systems of modern electric vehicles […]
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Vehicle electrical systems: Zero-to-sixty in 48 volts
Versatile automotive 48-V electrical systems will reduce CO2 emissions and make practical super-efficient electrical subsystems. Joseph Pulomena, EPCOS, a TDK Group Co. NEARLY five years ago, the U.S. government issued rules requiring automakers to hit a fleet average of 54.5 mpg for new cars and trucks – nearly doubling average fuel economy. Electric vehicles and […]
What are diodes? A quick refresher
A diode is a passive component made with semiconductor materials (a chip) that conducts current flowing in one direction but does not conduct current flowing in the opposite direction. The symbol for a diode (to the right in Figure 1) looks something like an arrow pointing in the direction of the forward current. Current flows […]
How to specify the proper Peltier module for your design
The latest generation of Peltier cooling modules can be a powerful addition to a designer’s thermal management toolbox. Robust and reliable, they can cool an IC or various other components – such as an LED or laser diode – to a target temperature and ensure stability even if the load changes rapidly. The modules are […]
Demo: Gate drivers and eGaN transistors on the same chip
We recently did a short video with Alex Lidow from EPC who took us through a demonstration of a gate driver integrated onto the same chip as eGaN transistor. Driving the gate of the power transistor is complicated because of the parasitic elements. Lidow explained that eGaN transistors switch in a nanosecond or less, and […]
Trends in discrete power semiconductors
For many years the rumored demise of the discrete semiconductor has been thrown around, says Joe Beck from Central Semiconductor. Everything’s going to be integrated into an IC. It’s all going away. Not true. In fact, there’s more interest in discrete today than in the last 10 or 15 years, Beck says. When engineers try […]
Tips on selecting toroidal inductors
Anthony Kourtessis from Signal Transformer, a Bel Group, recently went through some of the things you need to keep in mind when selecting toroidal inductors in a short video with us. First and foremost, he said, you need to establish which product will give the greatest energy storage capability. In addition, you’re looking for a […]
The benefits of silicon carbide in dc/dc converters
Adil Salman from Wolfspeed recently shot a video with us covering a silicon carbide charging circuit demonstration. The charger used Wolfspeed SiC MOSFETs. It had two stages. One is a PFC (power factor correction) stage, the other is an LLC converter stage. If you were to try building a similar charger with silicon IGBTs, you […]
SMPS chips from Analog Devices squelch EMI
We recently filmed a short video with Tony Armstrong from Analog Devices who took us through a demonstration of a new kind of circuitry that cuts down the noise from switching power supplies. Switchers are notoriously noisy but can usually be fixed with filtering. Armstrong illustrates that with a non-synchronous regulator running at about 300 […]
Power Electronics Top Talks in July on EDABoard.com forums
Peer-to-peer, engineer-to-engineer questions and answers from the EDABoard.com engineering community around power electronics. Click the “Read more” link and follow the entire conversation and maybe add your two cents by logging in to EDAboard.com MOSFET running at high temperature – In our 180W LED driver, the SPB07N60C3 MOSFET was running with degrees measured on its tab. […]