A 1.2 MHz, 25 V to 100 V GaN-based resonant Dickson switched-capacitor converter with 1011 W/in3 (61.7 kW/L) power density

Switched-capacitor (SC) converters have generated interest in the research community due to the possibility of achieving high power densities at high voltage conversion ratios. This work proposes a resonant, 1-to-4 voltage conversion ratio Dickson SC converter. A single inductor is utilized to achieve zero current switching of all transistors, which allows for high switching frequency and high conversion efficiency. A split-phase control scheme is used in order to eliminate the current transients associated with the Dickson SC converter and the resultant power loss. Employing these techniques, a 25 V to 100 V Dickson SC converter prototype is implemented with GaN transistors. The converter achieves a switching frequency of 1.2 MHz and a peak efficiency of 92 %. The power stage of the converter is able to achieve a power density of a 1011 W/in³ at 263 W.