An improved 3D integrated DC/DC converter for high temperature environments

The automotive environment while being electrically and thermally harsh places many demands on the power electronics being utilized within it. For power converters, these demands are a high power density while operating in a high temperature environment. This paper presents a 2 kW DC/DC converter using a novel thermal management structure capable of operating with coolant temperatures up to 110 °C. The design of the converter topology is considered and the component losses are minimized with the aid of interleaving. With the reduced component losses and the novel thermal management structure, the passive components can be miniaturized while still meeting the required electrical and thermal specifications, thereby improving the power density. To validate the design of the converter, electromagnetic and thermal simulations are used. Finally, the converter is built and experimentally validated. The measured results are presented validating the design.