ALPHACORE INC — National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Phase I: Z1

Description

In response to the NASA SBIR topic Z1.05-1 ldquo;Radiation-Tolerant, High-Voltage Converters for Lunar and Mars Missionsrdquo;, Alphacore Inc. will develop a 1kW, 100-Vdc to 1,000-Vdc radiation-tolerant, bidirectional, high-voltage, high-gain, lightweight, high-efficiency, DC-DC converter based on a mixed-signal (analog/digital) power management integrated circuit (PMIC) driving external Wide Band Gap (WBG) gallium nitride (GaN) or silicon carbide (SiC) field effect transistors (FETs) and passive components (inductors, transformers, capacitors). Other important characteristics are wide temperature (-150 ordm;C to 150 ordm;C) operation, high power density (gt;2 kW/kg), and high efficiency (gt;96%). While WBG discrete FETs are to some degree radiation-tolerant, their control/drive integrated circuits (ICs) are not. Alphacore PMIC satisfies the need for a radiation-tolerant, high-voltage, high-gain, lightweight controller/driver of WBG power FETs.The developed PMIC will have a reduced component count, enabling reduced failure modes, and smaller area of PCB (printed circuit board). nbsp;It will include over-voltage protection, fault tolerance, load monitoring, as well as allow control and status monitoring by a remote power system controller. This PMIC includes all controller circuitry and drivers integrated in a single package and drives an external WBG-based power stage.