Performance evaluation of low power DC/DC converter modules at cryogenic temperatures

Power electronics capable of operating at cryogenic temperatures is anticipated to play an important role in future NASA deep space missions. Besides having the ability to survive a very cold environment, low temperature electronics could contribute to improving system performance, and reducing development and launch costs. As part of the NASA Glenn Research Center Low Temperature Electronics Program, several commercial-off-the-shelf, low power, DC/DC converter modules were evaluated under various test parameters as a function of temperature in the range of 20°C to -190°C. Due to the significant amount of data generated during the investigations, only selected data pertaining to some of the tested converters is presented and discussed in this paper