MEMS-based and switched-capacitor approaches for miniature power supply applications

Sarah S. Bedair; Christopher D. Meyer; Nathan Lazarus; Christopher Dougherty; Jeffrey S. Pulskamp; Brian Morgan; Ronald Polcawich; Xue Lin; Rizwan Bashirullah; Iain Kierzewski; Joel Martin; Brian Power

doi:10.1117/12.2051775

4 June 2014 MEMS-based and switched-capacitor approaches for miniature power supply applications

Sarah S. Bedair, Christopher D. Meyer, Nathan Lazarus, Christopher Dougherty, Jeffrey S. Pulskamp, Brian Morgan, Ronald Polcawich, Xue Lin, Rizwan Bashirullah, Iain Kierzewski, Joel Martin, Brian Power

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9083, Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications VI; 90831T (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2051775
Event: SPIE Defense + Security, 2014, Baltimore, MD, United States

Abstract

This paper summarizes work towards creating mm-scale power converters using high-frequency CMOS as well as MEMS and micro-machined passives. Reducing the converter size is largely motivated by creating power supplies for micro-robotic platforms (with millimeter and milligram scales) without negatively impacting robotic system functionality. MEMS power passives are first presented where thin-film piezoelectric transformers and resonators are shown as an electromechanical approach to achieve ultra-miniature passives at the chip scale. Piezoelectric transformers fabricated with thin-film lead zirconate titanate (PZT) on silicon are measured and show ~60% efficiencies with 240 and 75 Ω loads. These transformers have resonant frequencies ranging between 14 and 20 MHz. Work towards creating transmission lines fabricated with air-core inductors and ferroelectric capacitors is also presented. Finally, a fullyintegrated bi-directional converter in CMOS is shown driving mm-scale robotic wings made with PZT. The converter’s maximum efficiency is 77% at ~800μW load with 9V output and demonstrates <3x voltage boost in 0.13-μm triple-well CMOS.

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Sarah S. Bedair, Christopher D. Meyer, Nathan Lazarus, Christopher Dougherty, Jeffrey S. Pulskamp, Brian Morgan, Ronald Polcawich, Xue Lin, Rizwan Bashirullah, Iain Kierzewski, Joel Martin, and Brian Power "MEMS-based and switched-capacitor approaches for miniature power supply applications", Proc. SPIE 9083, Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications VI, 90831T (4 June 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2051775

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