Webinar: Chip-Scale High-Voltage Power Supplies

Tuesday, May 5 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am

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Abstract:

This talk covers research on miniaturized power supplies using high-voltage IC technologies from 110/230V mains or 400V DC sources to power low-voltage subsystems. It explores system and circuit solutions for chip-scale power supplies, enhancing miniaturization and decentralization of complex systems, applicable to sensor nodes, transmitters, receivers, and actuators with 3-10V supply voltages at or below 500mW. Highlighted are various miniaturized high-voltage converters, including active-clamp flyback and buck converters.
An innovative voltage-interval-based constant-on-time control for buck converters supports 12.5-400 V input, achieving a power density of 752 mW/cm³ and 84% peak efficiency. A high-speed, low- power HV threshold-detection circuit significantly reduces sensing losses.
The AC-DC converter features an active zero-crossing buffer, minimizing capacitance by 240x and enabling integration up to 50 mW with a power density of 458 mW/cm³ and 73.7% AC peak efficiency. Monolithic GaN integration supports designs like a 55W PFC converter and a 15W offline buck converter.
A fully integrated GaN power stage operating at 500V and up to 6.25MHz will also be presented.

Biography:

Bernhard Wicht has more than 25 years of experience in analog and power management IC design. He received his Dipl.-Ing. degree from TU Dresden in 1996 and his Ph.D. (Summa Cum Laude) from TU Munich in 2002. From 2003 to 2010, he was with Texas Instruments in Germany, where he designed automotive power management ICs. Previously a professor at Reutlingen University, he is currently the head of the Chair for Mixed-Signal IC Design at Leibniz University Hannover. His research focuses on IC design, particularly power management, gate drivers, and high-voltage ICs. Dr. Wicht co-received the 2015 ESSCIRC Best Paper Award and the 2019 First Prize Paper Award of the IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics. In 2018, he was awarded the faculty prize for excellent teaching. He holds 21 patents, with several more pending. Dr. Wicht has been a member of the Technical Program Committee of ISSCC, serving as chair of the Power Management Subcommittee from 2023 to 2026. He was a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society in 2020-2021 and General Chair of the International Workshop on Power Supply on Chip (PwrSoC) in 2023. His book “Design of Power Management Integrated Circuits” received the Wiley IEEE Press Professional Book Award 2025.