Power Relays Based Novel Circuit with Multiple Device Characterization Capability for Cryogenic Applications

Abstract

Semiconductor characterizations are normally required to understand the device performance under different operating conditions. Furthermore, these characterization results can be used to estimate the power converter loss and help design the power electronics converters’ thermal management system. In some applications, multiple device characterizations should be made for comparison purposes. In order to enable multiple device characterization capability, in this article, a power relays based novel characterization circuit is proposed for the cryogenic applications. By turning on or off the power relays, different device under test (DPT) can be selected, which can save great amount of energy and time to cool down the cryogenic chamber. The characterization results demonstrate that power relays can work properly at liquid nitrogen temperature. The operational principles, key design considerations, and experimental results are demonstrated.