Design and Evaluation of a Building Block for a 100kW DC/DC Converter Based on PCB Process

Abstract:
This paper presents the design, assembly and characterization of an integrated power module constituting an elementary block, part of a 100-kW interleaved DC/DC converter. This building block relies on the printed circuit board (PCB) embedding technique and on a vertical layout (3D) of the switching cell. Therefore, this low-profile switching path combined with distributed decoupling capacitors arranged in a symmetrical manner provide a sub-nanoHenry inductance package. In addition, the output inductor is integrated within the same sbubstrate using PCB windings and a magnetic compound material. The paper also introduces the complexity and the specific care mandatory to evaluate such highly integrated power system.