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High-performance photonic transformers for DC voltage conversion

Direct current (DC) converters play an essential role in electronic circuits. Conventional high-efficiency DC voltage converters, especially step-up type, rely on switching operation, where energy is periodically stored within and released from inductors and/or capacitors connected in a variety of c...

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Autores principales: Zhao, Bo, Assawaworrarit, Sid, Santhanam, Parthiban, Orenstein, Meir, Fan, Shanhui
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8333049/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34344884
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24955-3
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author Zhao, Bo
Assawaworrarit, Sid
Santhanam, Parthiban
Orenstein, Meir
Fan, Shanhui
author_facet Zhao, Bo
Assawaworrarit, Sid
Santhanam, Parthiban
Orenstein, Meir
Fan, Shanhui
author_sort Zhao, Bo
collection PubMed
description Direct current (DC) converters play an essential role in electronic circuits. Conventional high-efficiency DC voltage converters, especially step-up type, rely on switching operation, where energy is periodically stored within and released from inductors and/or capacitors connected in a variety of circuit topologies. Since these energy storage components, especially inductors, are fundamentally difficult to scale down, miniaturization of switching converters proves challenging. Furthermore, the resulting switching currents produce significant electromagnetic noise. To overcome the limitations of switching converters, photonic transformers, where voltage conversion is achieved through light emission and detection processes, have been demonstrated. However, the demonstrated efficiency is significantly below that of the switching converter. Here we perform a detailed balance analysis and show that with a monolithically integrated design that enables efficient photon transport, the photonic transformer can operate with a near-unity conversion efficiency and high voltage conversion ratio. We validate the theory with a transformer constructed with off-the-shelf discrete components. Our experiment showcases near noiseless operation and a voltage conversion ratio that is significantly higher than obtained in previous photonic transformers. Our findings point to the possibility of a high-performance optical solution to miniaturizing DC power converters and improving the electromagnetic compatibility and quality of electrical power.
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spelling pubmed-83330492021-08-12 High-performance photonic transformers for DC voltage conversion Zhao, Bo Assawaworrarit, Sid Santhanam, Parthiban Orenstein, Meir Fan, Shanhui Nat Commun Article Direct current (DC) converters play an essential role in electronic circuits. Conventional high-efficiency DC voltage converters, especially step-up type, rely on switching operation, where energy is periodically stored within and released from inductors and/or capacitors connected in a variety of circuit topologies. Since these energy storage components, especially inductors, are fundamentally difficult to scale down, miniaturization of switching converters proves challenging. Furthermore, the resulting switching currents produce significant electromagnetic noise. To overcome the limitations of switching converters, photonic transformers, where voltage conversion is achieved through light emission and detection processes, have been demonstrated. However, the demonstrated efficiency is significantly below that of the switching converter. Here we perform a detailed balance analysis and show that with a monolithically integrated design that enables efficient photon transport, the photonic transformer can operate with a near-unity conversion efficiency and high voltage conversion ratio. We validate the theory with a transformer constructed with off-the-shelf discrete components. Our experiment showcases near noiseless operation and a voltage conversion ratio that is significantly higher than obtained in previous photonic transformers. Our findings point to the possibility of a high-performance optical solution to miniaturizing DC power converters and improving the electromagnetic compatibility and quality of electrical power. Nature Publishing Group UK 2021-08-03 /pmc/articles/PMC8333049/ /pubmed/34344884 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24955-3 Text en © The Author(s) 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Article
Zhao, Bo
Assawaworrarit, Sid
Santhanam, Parthiban
Orenstein, Meir
Fan, Shanhui
High-performance photonic transformers for DC voltage conversion
title High-performance photonic transformers for DC voltage conversion
title_full High-performance photonic transformers for DC voltage conversion
title_fullStr High-performance photonic transformers for DC voltage conversion
title_full_unstemmed High-performance photonic transformers for DC voltage conversion
title_short High-performance photonic transformers for DC voltage conversion
title_sort high-performance photonic transformers for dc voltage conversion
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8333049/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34344884
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24955-3
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