Research Programs
Over the course of its eight-year history to date, the Center has developed a variety of promising new power electronics technologies. Many of these are associated with the focused effort to develop Integrated Power Electronics Modules (IPEMs) that incorporate new types of power semiconductor devices, planar interconnect processes, sensor integration techniques, thermal management configurations, and high-temperature materials. These core technologies offer rich opportunities for future generations of power electronics systems that require higher performance at lower cost with improved reliability. Such systems are critical to a wide range of applications extending from home appliances to automobiles and aircraft.
The research program is organized in 4 thrust areas spanning the following 3 major planes of research: Fundamental Knowledge, Enabling Technology, and Engineered Systems. The thrust areas and their relationship to the research planes are depicted in the figure below.
The Semiconductor Power Devices and ICs (SPDIC) thrust is centered in the Fundamental Knowledge plane, with the focus of exploration and demonstration of novel power devices and ICs in both silicon and wide bandgap (primarily SiC and GaN) semiconductors.
Expanding from its roots in the Fundamental Knowledge plane, the Power Electronics Integration Technology (PEIT) thrust now incorporates research within the Enabling Technology plane as well. The PEIT Thrust not only continues to develop materials, structures, and integration technologies, but also takes on IPEM synthesis in an effort to promote pervasive use of power electronics in energy management.
The Integrated Motor Drive Systems (IMDS) thrust research centers largely on the Enabling Technology plane, although there are some technologies (primarily integration of current sensors) that lie within the Fundamental Knowledge plane. The vision of the IMDS thrust is to develop the necessary technology such that adjustable-speed drive capabilities can be economically embedded inside future electric motors with minimal impact on their size, weight, and environmental robustness.
The vision of the Integrated Power Conversion Systems (IPCS) thrust is to develop concepts for integrated electronic power distribution systems (EPDS) that can impact applications from computer servers to data centers, from cars to airplanes and ships, from homes to distributed energy sources and to the grid. IPCS is the only Engineered Systems thrust, and as such, one of its primary purposes is to demonstrate the potential impact of CPES technologies, primarily the IPEM vision.
