• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1426-1437
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• 2016

In different industrial and mission oriented applications, redundant or standby semiconductor systems can be implemented to improve the reliability of power electronics equipment. The proper structure for implementation can be one of the redundant or standby structures for series or parallel switches. This selection is determined according to the type and failure rate of the fault. In this paper, the reliability and the mean time to failure (MTTF) for each of the series and parallel configurations in two redundant and standby structures of semiconductor switches have been studied based on different failure rates. The Markov model is used for reliability and MTTF equation acquisitions. According to the different values for the reliability of the series and parallel structures during SC and OC faults, a comprehensive comparison between each of the series and parallel structures for different failure rates will be made. According to the type of fault and the structure of the switches, the reliability of the switches in the redundant structure is higher than that in the other structures. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed series and parallel structures of switches during SC and OC faults, results in an improvement in the reliability of the boost dc/dc converter. These studies aid in choosing a configuration to improve the reliability of power electronics equipment depending on the specifications of the implemented devices.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2000.07a
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• pp.30-33
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• 2000

Using power semiconductor switches such as IGBTs diodes and L-C circuits novel repetitive impulse voltage generator is developed. In the presented circuits high voltage pulse is generated by series-connection of capacitors and IGBTs. The charging of capacitors and voltage balance of IGBTs is done automatically. To verify the proposed circuit 20kV, 300A pulse generator is manufactured and tested.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.199-203
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• 2017

Mutually-actuated-nano-electromechanical (MA-NEM) memory switches are proposed for scalability improvement. While conventional NEM memory switches have fixed electrode lines, the proposed MA-NEM memory switches have mutually-actuated cantilever-like electrode lines. Thus, MA-NEM memory switches show smaller deformations of beams in switching. This unique feature of MA-NEM memory switches allows aggressive reduction of the beam length while maintaining nonvolatile property. Also, the scalability of MA-NEM memory switches is confirmed by using finite-element (FE) simulations. MA-NEM memory switches can be promising solutions for reconfigurable logic (RL) circuits.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.291-293
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• 2003

A semiconductor switch-based fast hi-polar high voltage pulse generator is proposed in this paper The proposed pulse system is made of a thyristor based-rectifier, DC link capacitor, a push-pull resonant inverter, a high voltage transformer. secondary capacitor, a high voltage IGBT & diode stacks, and a variable capacitor. The proposed system makes hi-polar high voltage sinusoidal waveform using resonance between leakage inductance of the transformer and secondary capacitor and transfers energy to output load at maximum of the secondary capacitor voltage. Compared to previous hi-polar high voltage pulse power supply using nonlinear transmission line, the proposed pulse power system using only semiconductor switches has simple structure and gives high efficiency

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.166-176
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• 2007

Radio frequency (RF) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have been pursued for more than a decade as a solution of high-performance on-chip fixed, tunable and reconfigurable circuits. This paper reviews our research work on RF MEMS switches and switching circuits in the past five years. The research work first concentrates on the development of lateral DC-contact switches and capacitive shunt switches. Low insertion loss, high isolation and wide frequency band have been achieved for the two types of switches; then the switches have been integrated with transmission lines to achieve different switching circuits, such as single-pole-multi-throw (SPMT) switching circuits, tunable band-pass filter, tunable band-stop filter and reconfigurable filter circuits. Substrate transfer process and surface planarization process are used to fabricate the above mentioned devices and circuits. The advantages of these two fabrication processes provide great flexibility in developing different types of RF MEMS switches and circuits. The ultimate target is to produce more powerful and sophisticated wireless appliances operating in handsets, base stations, and satellites with low power consumption and cost.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2016.07a
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• pp.107-108
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• 2016

Solid State Transformer(SST) has been recently regarded as a good alternative to conventional low frequency transformer. SST is consist of several high voltage power stage, so it is important to select optimal semiconductor switches for specification. This paper presents optimal IGBT switches for low switching losses using analyzing switching characteristics of several high voltage IGBT switches. Double Pulse Tester(DPT) experiment is used to verify characteristics of this IGBT switches.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1298-1305
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• 2016

This paper presents the development of a short-circuit protection mechanism on a high voltage switch (HVS) board which is built by a series connection of semiconductor switches. The HVS board is able to quickly detect and limit the peak fault current before the signal board triggers off a gate signal. Voltage clamping techniques are used to safely turn off the short-circuit current and to prevent overvoltage of the series-connected switches. The selection method of the main devices and the development of the HVS board are described in detail. Experimental results have demonstrated that the HVS board is capable of withstanding a short-circuit current at a rated voltage of 10kV without a di/dt slowing down inductor. The corresponding short-circuit current is restricted to 125 A within 100 ns and can safely turn off within 120 ns.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.905-914
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• 2016

A high-performance rectifier is introduced in this study. The proposed rectifier combines the conventional pulse width modulation, soft commutation, and instantaneously average line current control techniques to promote circuit performance. The voltage stresses of the main switches in the rectifier are lower than those in conventional rectifier topologies. Moreover, conduction losses of switches in the rectifier are certainly lower than those in conventional rectifier topologies because the power current flow path when the main switches are turned on includes two main power semiconductors and the power current flow path when the main switches are turned off includes one main power semiconductor. The rectifier also adopts a ZCS-PWM auxiliary circuit to derive the ZCS function for power semiconductors. Thus, the problem of switching losses and EMI can be improved. In the control strategy, the controller uses the average current control mode to achieve fixed-frequency current control with stability and low distortion. A prototype has been implemented in the laboratory to verify circuit theory.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 1999.07a
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• pp.206-209
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• 1999

There exists an acute need for high voltage solid-state-switches in a broad area of applications. With the proposed method using simple voltage balancing circuit with series connected IGBTs, it is realized high voltage semiconductor switches with working voltages of several order kilo-volts. The operation principle of the proposed circuit is explained and analyzed. Transient and static voltage-balancing is tested on a experimenta 3kV/45A switch with four series-connected IGBTs.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers B
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• v.50 no.12
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• pp.624-630
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• 2001

The trend of the regulations on environmental issues are getting tight. Responding to this trend new technologies such as moving electrodes, wide pitch and pulsed power supply are also introduced in the electrostatic precipitator(EP) systems. The introduction of wide pitch and moving electrodes enhances the system performance of the EPs by improving air-flow and by improving the ash reentrainment on rapping. The power supplies for the EPs developed up to date include thyristor-based dc or intermittent type, SMPS(switching mode power supply) type and the pulsed-power supply type. The use of the pulsed ones is known to improve dust-collecting efficiency of high resistivity ash and reduces back corona occurrence in the collecting plate. There are two kinds of pulsed-power supplies; one with pulsed transformers and the other with direct dc switching devices. The latter uses rotary spark gap switches or semiconductor switches. Both have the merits and demerits: the spark gap switches are simple and robust but has short life time, hence, high maintenance cost, whereas the semiconductor switches have long life time but are costly. In this study, A high voltage power supply with superimposing voltage pulse on dc source was developed for EPs. This study describes circuit topology, operating principle of the scheme, and analysis of experimental results on Dong-Hae Power Plant. The pulsed power supply consists of a variable dc power supply with ratings of 60kV, 800mA and pulse generator which is made of high voltage thyristor-diode switch strings, an LC resonant tank and a blocking inductor. The pulse generator generates variable pulse-voltage up to 70kV using a high frequency resonant inverter with a variable dc source. Two prototypes were built and tested on 250MW DongHae power plant to verify the possibility of the commercial use and the normal operation in the transient states.