ALPHACORE INC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 28

Description

The upgrade of the physics experiments for the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) at CERN is currently driving the development of new and more efficient powering schemes to cope with the increase of power demanded by the new high-density front-end electronics boards. Due to the high radiation levels of up to hundreds of Mrad at the HL-LHC, commercial DC-DC converters cannot be used in these powering schemes. Therefore, a critical need exists for custom-designed radiation-hard DC-DC converters to be used in the planned upgrades of the ATLAS and CMS detectors of the LHC, and in other planned future experiments. These converters must also function in high magnetic fields and be implemented within a small form factor with low mass. General statement of how this problem or situation is being addressed. Alphacore will develop a novel hybrid Gallium Nitride (GaN) and silicon SiGe BiCMOS integrated module DC-DC converter. The converter will have built-in self-test (BIST) circuitry that can be used to monitor the converter’s health during the long HL-LHC experiments. The converter will exhibit the following specifications: • Input voltage of 24V regulated down to an output voltage of 1.4V, with 5A maximum load current. • Exhibits a minimum of 90% efficiency. • Includes radiation-hard built-in-self-test (BIST) to monitor critical performance parameters and calibrate controller parameters for high radiation conditions and over converter lifetime. • Integrated, compact, single-module DC-DC converter solution. This solution includes a SiGe BiCMOS chip, as well as the GaN-based DC-DC converter’s power stage. These components will be integrated to provide a single-package solution. The GaN and SiGe based converter functions at total ionizing dose (TID) levels ≥150 Mrad/Si, which makes it a candidate for use in the HL-LHC. What is to be done in Phase I? Within Phase I, two integrated circuits (IC) will be designed and made ready for fabrication in Phase II. The two circuits include: 1) GaN-on-Si IC for the DC-DC converter’s power stage, and 2) SiGe BiCMOS IC containing the built-in-self-test and monitoring functionality, and the converter’s controller and driver circuitry. The GaN chip will be designed and simulated using device models verified with laboratory tests performed during this proposed effort. The physical layout designs for both chips will be completed during the Phase I program, so they will be ready for tape out in the beginning of Phase II. Commercial applications and other benefits. The designed converter will find many potential commercial applications, (power systems in space satellites, defense systems, powering of large medical imager scanners, etc.) due to its high efficiency and compact size that originates from the high switching frequency and lack of large passive devices. Large scanners used in medical imaging (combo scanners for MRI and SPECT as an example) require compact powering schemes for up to 20,000 tightly spaced readout channels functioning in high magnetic fields and with low levels of ionizing radiation. Alphacore’s converter meets all of these specs. High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics research are major fields where the GaN based DC-DC converter chips will be used. The size of this market can be put into perspective knowing the fact that the LHC alone has used $10B of funding so far and will require several billion dollars in the near future for upgrades. There are also several other planned large-scale experiments with millions of readout channels, including the International Linear Collider and the Electron Ion Collider. Key words: DC-DC converter, GaN, power electronics, HL-LHC, built-in-self-test