Loading...
News Article

Tiny power converters run on vibrational energy

News

University of California San Diego and CEA-Leti scientists have developed a 'ground-breaking' piezoelectric-based DC-DC converter that unifies all power switches onto a single chip to increase power density.

This new power topology, which extends beyond existing topologies, blends the advantages of piezoelectric converters with capacitive-based DC-DC converters.

The power converters the team developed are much smaller than the huge, bulky inductors currently used for this role. The devices could eventually be used for any type of DC-DC conversation, in everything from smart phones, to computers, to server farms and AR/VR headsets.

The results were presented in the paper, “An Integrated Dual-side Series/Parallel Piezoelectric Resonator-based 20-to-2.2V DC-DC Converter Achieving a 310% Loss Reduction”, Feb. 20 at ISSCC 2024 in San Francisco.

“The Dual-side Series/Parallel Piezoelectric Resonator (DSPPR) is the first IC used for PR-based power conversion, and achieves up to 310% loss reduction over prior-art published and co-designed discrete designs for VCRs<0.125,” the paper reports.

“This innovative approach enhances performance, especially at low voltage conversion ratios—an area where prior works struggled to sustain both high efficiency and optimal utilization of piezoelectric materials,” said Patrick Mercier, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC San Diego and a senior author of the paper.

The paper explains that a hybrid DSPPR converter exploits integrated circuits’ ability to offer sophisticated power stages in a small area compared to discrete designs, and enables efficient device operation at voltage conversion ratios (VCR) of less than 0.1.

“The IC provides a distinct opportunity to consolidate all power switches onto a single chip, significantly diminishing the PCB footprint and enhancing phase-control precision,” said Gael Pillonnet, scientific director of CEA-Leti’s Silicon Component Division.

In addition, incorporating additional capacitive-based converter stages, both pre- and post- the piezoelectric DC-DC converter, contributes to performance improvement.

“This strategic integration reduces the demand on piezoelectric material, resulting in a more compact converter with a notably smaller total volume. The marginal increase in additional capacitors, which is less than 10 percent, pales in comparison to the substantial gains facilitated by the proposed topology,” Pillonnet said.

“The DC-DC converter, particularly in the low VCR range, which was a focus of our work, has widespread applications in various sectors, such as high-power computing servers, automotive systems, USB chargers, and battery-powered devices,” said Wen-Chin Brian Liu, a Ph.D. student in Mercier’s research group and the lead author of the paper.

Silicon photonics: accelerating growth in the race for high-speed optical interconnects
CCD-in-CMOS technology enables ultra-fast burst mode imaging
2025 6G A look forward
Critical Manufacturing climbs Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50
Semiconductors: The most important thing you probably know the least about
Imec and partners unveil SWIR sensor with lead-free quantum dot photodiodes
Lattice introduces small and mid-range FPGA offerings
SEMI and SMT inspection solutions at NEPCON Japan 2025
Nordic Semiconductor and Kigen demonstrate Remote SIM Provisioning for Massive IoT
Spirent collaborates with Siemens
Quobly forges strategic collaboration with STMicroelectronics
New standards in pressure measurement systems for the semiconductor industry
IBM delivers optics breakthrough
Semiconductor equipment sales to reach $139 Billion in 2026
Marvell introduces 1.6 Tbps LPO Chipset
ACM research strengthens Atomic Layer Deposition portfolio
CEA-Leti demonstrates embedded FeRAM platform compatible with 22nm FD-SOI node
Lattice introduces small and mid-range FPGA offerings
Solace unlocks full potential of event-driven integration
Advantest to showcase latest test solutions at SEMICON Japan 2024
CEA-Leti device integrates light sensing and modulation
Nordic launches Thingy:91 X prototyping platform for cellular IoT and Wi-Fi locationing
Imec achieves seamless InP Chiplet integration on 300mm RF Silicon Interposer
High-precision SMU
Powering India’s energy future
China’s Nvidia probe puts global investors ‘on notice’
POET Technologies appoints new director
Imec demonstrates core building blocks of a scalable, CMOS-fab compatible superconducting digital technology
Imec proposes double-row CFET for the A7 technology node
ULVAC launches new deposition system
Beebolt and SEMI Announce Strategic Partnership to Drive Supplier Resilience and Agility
esmo group introduces Automated Final Test Manipulator
×
Search the news archive

To close this popup you can press escape or click the close icon.
Logo
x
Logo
×
Register - Step 1

You may choose to subscribe to the Silicon Semiconductor Magazine, the Silicon Semiconductor Newsletter, or both. You may also request additional information if required, before submitting your application.


Please subscribe me to:

 

You chose the industry type of "Other"

Please enter the industry that you work in:
Please enter the industry that you work in: