Application of the PCB-Embedding Technology in Power Electronics – State of the Art and Proposed Development

Abstract

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A 3D Folded Power Inductor with PCB based technology for applications in the kW range

“…The highest source of error is on the time: the shorter heating time, the higher the error. The total error on the measurement, for the DUT, is calculated by (5), including the errors on temperature and time plus the error from the calibration. For example, for a heating time of 60 s during the calibration and the measure, the final error is equal to 4.49 %.…”

“…In the kW range, the inductive components are typically large and may be connected to screwed cables in some cases, thus requiring manual intervention. PCB integration proposes a new way to manufacture power converters, offer perspectives for cost control through reduction of components, and manufacturing steps [5].…”

Evaluation of the PCB-embedding technology for a 3.3 kW converter

“…It is particularly attractive for power applications, as it allows to reduce the inductance of the interconnects or to provide better cooling. Detailed reviews of this technology are given in [4], [5]. It consists in inserting components in the material stack used to form multi-layer PCBs, prior to the lamination process.…”

“…Regarding circuit parasitics, a very low value of loop inductance (0.43 nH) is achieved to connect GaN transistors in [7], thanks to PCB embedding. Many other publications on this topic are listed in [5].…”

“…In some cases, sheets of polymer loaded with magnetic particles can directly be laminated as part of a multilayer PCB [11] instead of discrete magnetic cores. A similar approach can be used for capacitors, by stacking thin dielectric layers with high permittivity [12], but the capacitance density or voltage breakdown of such capacitors tend not to be suitable for power electronics [5].…”