6 research outputs found

    An integrated DC/DC converter with online monitoring of hot-carrier degradation

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    An integrated DC/DC converter with online monitoring of the degradation induced by hot-carrier stress (HCD) in new generation power LDMOS transistors is proposed. In particular, when a relatively high drain voltage is applied during on-state regime (switching phase), degradation mechanisms lead to an increase of the transistor on-resistance (RON). To this purpose, the converter is able to dynamically estimate the RON of the power LDMOS and to provide its value to the user during normal operation. The presented solution, developed in STMicroelectronics 90nm BCD technology, features a non-invasive current sensing and voltage sampling architecture, which is applied to a common DC/DC boost converter to evaluate the resistance of the power LDMOS. Without lack of generality, this specific sensing structure can be applied to any kind of converter, e.g. buck or buck-boost, as it does not require any change in the main conversion circuit

    Alterungsanalyse komplexer analoger integrierter Schaltungen aus Systemsicht

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    The design of analog circuits ranges from the specifications on system level, the selection of a suitable circuit topology up to the choice of the concrete physical dimensions of components like transistors. The individual steps are performed within computer-aided design environments. These environments are based on a database made available by the semiconductor manufacturers containing process parameters and influences on the components. In particular, the influences to be considered in the design have increased in recent years due to the continuous reduction of the producible structural sizes. Thus, it must be possible to analyze the deviations due to process, temperature, time degradation and, for special applications, radiation influences during the design phase. Conventional approaches regard these additional effects as standing next to the actual design process. As a result, the latter is no longer consistent and it is much more complex to consider different circuits and effects on different abstraction levels within the design flow. The focus of this work lies on the development of a consistent consideration of process, voltage, temperature, aging and radiation influences (PVTAR) during the entire design process of analog circuits to the initial measurement of manufactured circuits. To achieve this goal, a transistor model was extended by the influences to be considered. Thereby, the analysis of the additional effects is seamlessly integrated into conventional design processes and methods. In addition, the possibility of a structured analog design is evaluated. This approach allows the estimation of PVTAR influences on dedicated analog function blocks and their propagation on circuit level. Thus, the enormous simulation effort associated with aging analyses can be reduced. The design and manufacture of circuits is always followed by the measurement of the core properties of these circuits. In the context of this work a method was developed which makes it possible to use all insights from the design of a circuit for the improvement of the measuring results. In addition, the internal parameter sets of individual components can be inferred from the terminal behavior of circuits and systems. Finally, the results of the measurement method can be used for the automated calculation of circuit reliability parameters

    Robustness and durability aspects in the design of power management circuits for IoT applications

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    With the increasing interest in the heterogeneous world of the “Internet of Things” (IoT), new compelling challenges arise in the field of electronic design, especially concerning the development of innovative power management solutions. Being this diffusion a consolidated reality nowadays, emerging needs like lifetime, durability and robustness are becoming the new watchwords for power management, being a common ground which can dramatically improve service life and confidence in these devices. The possibility to design nodes which do not need external power supply is a crucial point in this scenario. Moreover, the development of autonomous nodes which are substantially maintenance free, and which therefore can be placed in unreachable or harsh environments is another enabling aspect for the exploitation of this technology. In this respect, the study of energy harvesting techniques is increasingly earning interest again. Along with efficiency aspects, degradation aspects are the other main research field with respect to lifetime, durability and robustness of IoT devices, especially related to aging mechanisms which are peculiar in power management and power conversion circuits, like for example battery wear during usage or hot-carrier degradation (HCD) in power MOSFETs. In this thesis different aspects related to lifetime, durability and robustness in the field of power management circuits are studied, leading to interesting contributions. Innovative designs of DC/DC power converters are studied and developed, especially related to reliability aspects of the use of electrochemical cells as power sources. Moreover, an advanced IoT node is proposed, based on energy harvesting techniques, which features an intelligent dynamically adaptive power management circuit. As a further contribution, a novel algorithm is proposed, which is able to effectively estimate the efficiency of a DC/DC converter for photovoltaic applications at runtime. Finally, an innovative DC/DC power converter with embedded monitoring of hot-carrier degradation in power MOSFETs is designed

    Nuclear Fusion Programme: Annual Report of the Association Karlsruhe Institute of Technology/EURATOM ; January 2012 - December 2012 (KIT Scientific Reports ; 7647)

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    The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is working in the framework of the European Fusion Programme on key technologies in the areas of superconducting magnets, microwave heating systems (Electron-Cyclotron-Resonance-Heating, ECRH), the deuterium-tritium fuel cycle, He-cooled breeding blankets, a He-cooled divertor and structural materials, as well as refractory metals for high heat flux applications including a major participation in the preparation of the international IFMIF project

    GSI Scientific Report 2011 [GSI Report 2012-1]

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