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In recent years, electrophoretic display (EPD) attracts great attention for its ultra‐low power consumption, which is suitable for self‐powered applications. In this case, an energy storage system, simple as the capacitor, is essential for the self‐powered driving of EPDs. However, significance on the capacitor‐based driving of EPDs was underestimated in spite of its great practical value. This paper investigated the capacitor‐based driving of EPD for better performances of self‐powered EPDs. Based on this novel scheme, sports shoes with self‐powered EPD patterns were demonstrated as the future wearable applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical, organic, light‐emitting transistors (VOLETs) combine three of the four essential components of an active matrix lightemitting diode (AMOLED) pixel ‐ the drive transistor, the storage capacitor, and the OLED stack ‐ into a single, highly‐stable, selfemissive structure. VOLETs can be manufactured on amorphous silicon (a‐Si) thin‐film transistor (TFT) backplanes to enable lowcost AMOLED displays with improved brightness and lifetime characteristics. We report on the current status of VOLET development and prospective impact on the active‐matrix display industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The necessity of drying the graphene oxide suspension (GOsus) using Hummer's Method to produce graphene oxide (GO) powder was studied. The undried GOsus was compared to the dried GO. The GO materials were used as Pt supports via NaBH4 reduction for O2 reduction. XRD patterns showed similar d-spacing in both while the half-cell tests of the Pt/rGOsus and Pt/rGO catalysts were similar. GOsus film, deposited onto Toray Carbon Paper and electrochemically reduced in aq. H2SO4 was tested as a capacitor. The suspension and dried graphene-based capacitor showed similar XRD and XPS patterns and the erGOsus capacitor displayed increased capacitance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we designed a novel multicolor electrochromic (EC) device having hybrid capacitor electrochromic device based on 4,4 '‐biphenyl dicarboxylic acid diethyl ester and phenothiazine molecule with carbon electrode. The EC properties of the device were analyzed and discussed for the possibility to multicolor representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a 14‐Gb/s dual mode receiver with MIPI D‐PHY and C‐PHY interfaces for mobile display drivers. To reduce size overhead from the dual mode interfaces, we propose the termination circuit that can share 50‐Ω terminations and common‐mode capacitors while maintaining a perfectly matched load balance. The proposed dual mode receiver supports up to 14 Gb/s total bandwidth in each interface mode, resulting in broad compatibility with application processors. A mobile display driver using the proposed dual mode receiver is fabricated in a 28‐nm high‐voltage CMOS process and verified up to 3.5 Gb/s per lane in the D‐PHY mode and 2.2‐Gs/s per lane in the C‐PHY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power capacitors are highly reliable due to their completely enclosed configuration. They are relatively trouble-free over the long term. However, their dielectric strength can be reduced due to some stresses, including overvoltage application or thermal degradation of the insulation material during long periods of operation; these events can result in dielectric breakdown of capacitors in extreme cases. Since almost all power capacitors with oil-impregnated paper have been operated for more than twenty years, some kind of failure should be expected. To prevent these incipient accidents, it is important to examine the insulation deterioration mechanism and evaluate the degree of deterioration before capacitor breakdown. To establish a diagnostic method of deterioration of the capacitors with oil-impregnated paper, we have conducted thermally and electrically accelerated deterioration tests and investigated the changes of their characteristics. Based on the experimental results we obtained, it can be concluded that the behavior of the oil-dissolved gases can be used as a useful index to diagnose the insulator deterioration of these capacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The letter presents the design, fabrication, and measurement of a configurable radio frequency identification (RFID) tag based on time-domain reflections. The tag circuit contains a microstrip line (ML) that propagates radio frequency (RF) signals, and a group of capacitors that introduce impedance discontinuities to encode binary codes. The configurability of the tag circuit is allowed by connecting the nearby-placed capacitors with the ML. Ink-jet printing technology is employed to implement the layout of the proposed tag on paper substrate. To overcome the limitations of printed metallic tracks, a linearly tapering technique is proposed. With this technique, a four-bit configurable passive chipless RFID tag is realized. Both time-domain reflectometry (TDR) measurements and ultrawideband (UWB) characterizations were conducted for the proposed tag, and the results are in good consistence with the simulation ones from the circuit simulator advanced design system (ADS). Owing to its low cost fabrication and environmentally friendly nature, the proposed tag has great potential to be widely employed in low-end RFID applications. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:2781-2786, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26412 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed a technique to directly observe at nanoscale resolution the degradation of gate SiO2 films observed in metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors by using conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM). As a result of observing gate SiO2 films subjected to a constant current stress, local leakage current spots related to the stress-induced leakage current (SILC) were detected. Distribution of defects induced by the electrical stress and the conduction mechanism of local leakage current caused by them are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 88(6): 18–26, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjb.20123 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel method to generate a SWEEP signal line‐by‐line for PWM driving microLED pixel circuit. The proposed method generates a SWEEP signal based on the linearly increasing voltage of the capacitor by flowing a constant current to the horizontal line parasitic capacitive load. The constant current is supplied by the sweep generation (SG) circuit in each line. Since the SG circuit utilizes the existing SCAN signals for the pixel circuit, additional SCAN or clock signals are not required. By using the proposed method, an individual SWEEP signal for each line can be generated without a significant increase in operational complexity in the display panel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In hydrogen production, AC‐DC rectifiers must provide a high current and low voltage to the production load. This paper focuses on the efficient performance and elimination of the output ripple in these AC‐DC rectifiers. Unfortunately, efforts to reduce the current ripple often lead to lower efficiency, causing a contradiction. To address this issue, a low‐ripple high‐efficiency AC‐DC rectifier with an auxiliary compensator is proposed in this paper. The proposed rectifier can maximise efficiency while eliminating the current ripple, including the switching ripple and low‐frequency ripple. By incorporating a rectifier‐chopper and a buck circuit with a series‐connected capacitor, the auxiliary compensator, the solution provides an additional flow path for the current ripple at the rectifier output, successfully preventing the ripple from being output to the load. This paper offers a thorough exposition regarding the causative factors and sources of the switching and low‐frequency ripple. Furthermore, a detailed explication of the operating principle of the proposed rectifier system is provided. The losses and costs associated with auxiliary compensators are then analysed for persuasive purposes. Finally, simulation and experimental results verify the feasibility and superiority of the proposed rectifier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's healthcare landscape, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) plays a pivotal role in early diagnosis and treatment decisions. However, the quest for higher frequencies to achieve micron‐level resolutions poses technological challenges. This paper focuses on coils and capacitors, with special attention to air gap considerations for movable electrodes. The paper delves into the development of adjustable capacitors using high‐fired NP0 ceramic, tailored for 128‐MHz MRI systems. These capacitors boast impressive specs: a 3‐kV breakdown voltage (VBreakdown), a 3‐pF minimum capacitance (Cmin), a 30‐pF maximum capacitance (CMax), and a 1.5‐pF stepwise capacitance variation (Cvariation step). Notably, they enhance breakdown voltage while preserving frequency stability with MgTiCa ceramic between the fixed and mobile electrode, critical for adaptive blocks. Leveraging geometrical parameters analyzed through the ANSYS simulator, the authors meticulously designed an optimized 25–40 pF capacitor with a 15‐mm height and 1600 mm2 surface area. Post‐fabrication and sintering, extensive testing using a vector network analyzer across 10 MHz to 100 MHz validated performance against simulated expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the operation of the ITER machine, hundreds of MW/Var of active and reactive power will be exchanged with the grid. The E‐STATCOM scheme composed of the Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) and split supercapacitor energy storage has been proposed to improve the power compensation performance of the existing reactive power compensation system in the previous study. However, one of the main technical challenges which is lack of research is to precharge all submodule capacitors and supercapacitors from zero to their nominal voltage values efficiently during a startup process. As the capacitance and operating voltage of supercapacitors are much different from capacitors in each submodule, the startup of E‐STATCOM is a more complicated process. To coordinate the energy exchange between submodule capacitors and supercapacitors, submodule capacitors and the grid, this paper presents an optimized four‐stage AC side startup strategy for the E‐STATCOM. The proposed method minimizes the use of current‐limiting resistors while suppressing the surge current in the zero‐voltage startup process of supercapacitors, in addition to optimizing the energy consumption. The pulse current charging, constant current charging and constant power charging strategies of supercapacitors are adopted in different charging stages, and the detailed coordinated control scheme between submodule capacitors and supercapacitors are described and analyzed. The effectiveness and performance of the proposed method are verified by simulation results and hardware‐in‐the‐loop (HIL) experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel nine‐level inverter using one voltage source, 10 unidirectional and one bidirectional power switches, and two capacitors has been proposed to utilize in ground power units (GPUs). Selective harmonic elimination method has been applied to reduce the output voltage's THD to less than 3% with 115/200 V and 400 Hz. The proposed converter utilized a lower number of devices to output a nine‐level staircase in comparison to existing converters. Also, the proposed converter uses inherent self‐voltage balancing for capacitors' voltage. So, the control algorithm gets simpler. In this study, the topology analysis, modulation algorithm, capacitor calculation, loss, efficiency, and performance analysis of the proposed topology have been presented. The proposed circuit has been compared to recently published papers in terms of efficiency, switch, capacitor, diode, and source numbers. The theoretical and experimental performance of the topology has been verified by simulation on PSCAD and PSIM software and 350 W experimental setup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three‐level neutral point clamped (3L‐NPC) voltage source inverter (VSI) topology can be advantageous in electric vehicles with a high DC‐link voltage and a high switching frequency. A bulky DC‐link capacitor is not an option; thus, the DC‐link capacitor's sizing considering the traction system characteristics is an important design step. This paper investigates how the DC‐link capacitor size of a 3L‐NPC VSI gets affected by the combination of the interdependent characteristics of an electric drive, such as its power factor, modulation index, current, and fundamental frequency, with the effects of the modulation methods. Five pulse width modulation (PWM) methods, of which three of them have an active neutral point potential control, are compared in terms of their neutral point potential (NPP) oscillations. Then, the size of the DC‐link capacitor is determined for each PWM method so that the NPP ripple is kept under desired limits at all operating conditions. It is shown that both the modulation technique and the electric machine characteristics influence the capacitor size. For example, electric machine design modifications can introduce more than a 30% reduction in capacitor size. Finally, DC‐link and NPP oscillations with different PWM methods are experimentally validated in a scaled‐down 3L‐NPC inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A setting‐zero analysis method is presented to facilitate the prediction of zeros in multistage amplifiers. The main objective of this method is to simplify the analysis process of such amplifiers while improving the overall performance, and the feasibility is confirmed by various examples presented in this paper. By proposing a single‐capacitor cascode Miller compensation three‐stage amplifier using setting‐zero analysis, this paper has theoretically verified that the addition of a grounding second‐stage compensation capacitor is unnecessary. Measurement results show that this amplifier consumes a current of 38 μA at a 1.2 V supply voltage, with a 103 dB open‐loop gain. When driving a 1 nF load capacitor, this design achieves 1.88 MHz gain bandwidth and 73° phase margin, with a 3.33 V/μs average slew rate and an average 1% settling time of 0.40 μs under the unity‐gain configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible and foldable electronic devices require flexible energy‐storage components. Electrochemical capacitors (ECs) could store charges without chemical reaction, have fast charging/discharging speed, and high power density. Carbon‐based materials such as activated carbon, single‐wall carbon nanotubes, and graphene have large ion‐reachable surface area and effective electronic transport passages, which enable capacitive behavior with high power density and energy density. An electric double‐layer capacitor made using pencil‐drawn electrodes on commercial copy papers is reported here. Pencil for electrodes is made with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with well‐connected structure. These AgNPs/rGO hybrid structures give high conductivity and reliable charging/discharging properties. The ECs are based on pencil‐drawn electrodes on copy papers and biopolymer electrolytes, so these can realize ultra‐low cost, foldable, and biodegradable energy sources for flexible and foldable electronic devices in the future. Electrochemical capacitors (ECs) are fabricated using a AgNPs/rGO hybrid pencil on a commercial paper with biocompatible electrolyte. Pencil‐drawn ECs with Li‐doped biocompatible electrolyte show good capacitive retention up to 2400 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the stability analysis and enhancement in the AC‐microgrid system comprising parallel‐operated voltage‐source inverters (VSIs) supplying an active‐load. The active‐load behaves such as a constant power load from the AC‐side. In the paper, two models for the active‐load modeling in the AC microgrid are considered: (i) simple model in which the active‐load is modeled as an ideal current source, (ii) detailed model in which all dynamics of the active‐load converter and related controllers are taken into account. The main findings and contribution of this paper are as follows. (a) All linearized state equations of the study system are extracted and transferred into a unified common dq‐reference frame, and then, small‐signal stability of the study system is carried out in the common reference frame by using the simple and detailed models of the active‐load. (b) It is shown that the simple model of the active‐load, as a current source, leads to more pessimistic results in comparison to the active‐load detailed model. (c) Impacts of the active‐load power and bandwidth of the active‐load voltage control loop on the system stability are examined. (d) Control of the generation‐side VSIs is modified and a stabilizing approach, called generation‐side virtual capacitor, is proposed for stabilizing the system under high active‐load penetration. Next, modal analysis and time‐domain simulations are used to investigate the study system responses with and without the proposed stabilizing approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As electrochemical research undergoes rapid technological progression, the acquisition of substantial amounts of electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) becomes increasingly feasible. Yet, this advancement introduces intricate challenges in data processing, automation, and interpretation. This paper delves into the sufficiency of unsupervised machine learning (ML) and in particular dimensionality reduction methods in decoding EIS complexities, examining its strengths, limitations, and potential pathways for optimization. As we navigated the intricacies of non‐linear dimensionality reduction, spotlighting t‐distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t‐SNE) and uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) algorithms, a pattern emerged: these techniques excel at categorizing divergent impedance spectra but show limitations when faced with analogous circuit configurations, especially those substituting a capacitor with a constant phase element. This observation not only underscores a limitation but also accentuates that unsupervised ML approaches, alone, may not fully unravel the nuances of EIS spectra. In the concluding section of our manuscript, we discuss the implications of this finding from a practical standpoint, particularly for electrochemists seeking to apply these methods in their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper introduces a common ground (CG) nine‐level switched‐capacitor (SC)‐based multilevel inverter (MLI) with dual boosting feature. The proposed circuit possess 11 switches, 2 diodes, and 3 capacitors. A simple level‐shifted modulation method has been used to generate the switching signals. The key feature of the proposed circuit is the presence of common ground between the input and output. The CG configuration eliminates the leakage current problem encountered in photovoltaic (PV) applications, which means the proposed circuit is suitable for use in PV applications. Moreover, the circuit also possesses reduced overall components and voltage stress on switches. At the same time, the dual boosting feature is another salient feature of the proposed MLI. This means the input voltage is stepped up two times and we get boosted/increased voltage at the output. The various simulation and experimental conditions have been tried to test the circuit under different load situations. Moreover, the loss analysis using PLECS software tool has been done to get information about the circuit losses. The results are shown and explained in the concerned sections of the paper. A quantitative comparison, based on different parameters, has been provided with other nine‐level MLIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper presents an energy‐efficient fully differential switching scheme for successive approximation register (SAR) analog‐to‐digital converters (ADCs). During the sampling phase, the top and bottom plates of all capacitors except most significant bit (MSB) capacitors are grounded in digital‐to‐analog converter (DAC) arrays. The input signals are bottom plate sampled on MSB capacitors. This technique can reduce the settling time by more than 87.5% in comparison with the conventional switching scheme. Furthermore, a novel reset‐free regenerative comparator is unveiled in this paper. The proposed comparator is armed to amplify its inputs both during the reset and evaluation phases. In comparison with a conventional single‐ended comparator, the proposed comparator can reduce power consumption above 90% for the almost same input‐referred offset voltage. The proposed scheme is designed with a resolution of 8‐bit and a sampling rate of 90 MS/s in a standard 65‐nm CMOS technology. The simulation results certify that the ADC dissipates 363‐μW power with a 1.2‐V supply voltage and achieves a 7.13 effective number of bits (ENOBs), yielding a 28.8 fJ/conversion step Nyquist rate Walden FOM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently the in-plane switching (IPS) has been heavily exploited in particular for high-resolution mobile displays. The IPS displays offer good optical quality, however, the complex fabrication and manufacturing cost offers several limitations for their application. On the other hand, electrically suppressed helix ferroelectric liquid crystals (ESHFLC's) because of their intrinsic in-plane switching offer better solutions with simpler and cheaper fabrication for high-resolution displays. In this article, the ESHFLC's with fast response time (˜10µs), high contrast ratio (˜ 10k: 1) with low driving voltage (2˜5V/µm) has been achieved through photo alignment technology with acceptable shock stability and without natural diffraction. The ESHFLC's provide good optical quality with simpler fabrication procedures and therefore could secure application for high-resolution displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the design and fabrication of an amorphous-indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT)-based high-speed and ultra-narrow shift register on a plastic substrate. The shift register consisting 5 TFTs and 1 capacitor is small in physical size which is only 40 μm in width (pitch). At the supply voltage (VDD) of 15 V, the clock frequency of the shift register approaches 166.7 kHz, corresponding to a pulse width of 3 μs. The shift register could be operated under mechanical bending radius of 2mm, making it applicable to flexible high resolution active-matrix displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, multilevel inverters are widely utilized in various applications. Reducing the number of components in the design of these converters is one of the crucial goals so that they have less volume and cost. This paper presents a single‐source structure for a multilevel switched‐capacitor inverter with voltage boost capability. The proposed structure can generate 25 sinusoidal‐like step voltage levels with a six times amplitude increase compared to the input. This converter uses only one direct current (DC) power source, 14 switches, and four capacitors. The nearest level control switching method has been used to control the converter, create voltage levels, and select the switching modes. A comprehensive comparison has been made with other recently presented structures to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed structure. The advantages of the proposed structure include using only one DC voltage source, the ability to increase the output voltage six times compared to the input, the use of fewer power electronics components compared to the number of voltage levels, proper efficiency, self‐balancing of capacitors, and as a result, the lower cost. The performance accuracy of the proposed converter has been simulated in the MATLAB Simulink environment and then evaluated by a laboratory prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the effect of the number of switching (NOS) per day of capacitor banks on loss reduction in radial distribution systems. To this aim, the daytime (more precisely, 24 h) is divided into different numbers of time segments (equal to the same NOS) for capacitors' size switching. The resulting non‐linear programming with discontinuous derivatives (called DNLP) model is solved subject to related constraints. The results reveal the impact of hourly switching of capacitor banks on further loss reduction (namely 118.4435, 83.7856, and 101.738 MWh for three IEEE systems) and higher net savings (i.e. k$5.6067, k$4.2772, and k$5.3542 for the same systems) of radial distribution systems compared to daily switching. Then, the hyper‐tuned Random Forest model is trained based on the IEEE 69‐bus network, fine‐tuned by the IEEE 10‐bus network, and fitted by the IEEE 33‐bus network to have an intelligent multi‐classification task with the highest accuracy. Numerical simulation, in both classic and intelligent parts, is presented to demonstrate the performance of DeepOptaCap. For the final step, DeepOptaCast is compared to other intelligent models of Light Gradient Boosting Method (LGBM), Decision Tree, and XGBoost, regarding KPIs of mean absolute percentage error, root mean squared percentage error, mean absolute error, root mean squared error, and coefficient of determination to demonstrate the model's superiority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of submodule switching frequency reduction in half‐bridge modular multilevel converters (HB‐MMCs) with capacitor voltage self‐balancing control is considered and explored in this paper. A selection principle of submodule switching state vectors is proposed based on the voltage self‐balancing switching state matrix, aiming to lower submodule switching frequency and device losses. The relationship between system stability and submodule switching signals is revealed according to the capacitor voltage self‐balancing characteristics, and the full‐rank constraints on the voltage self‐balancing switching state matrix are proposed. Considering the tradeoff between switching loss and capacitor voltage fluctuation, the evaluation indexes of voltage self‐balancing control effect are determined. The selection principle of submodule switching state vectors and the optimized construction method of switching state matrix are presented. Voltage self‐balancing HB‐MMC models are built in MATLAB/Simulink, and it is verified that the submodule switching state vector selection principle proposed in this study can effectively reduce switching frequency while meeting the evaluation requirements of practical engineering projects, so as to achieve the balance between switching loss and steady‐state capacitor voltage fluctuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an improved switched‐inductor quasi‐Z‐source inverter with a higher boost factor than similar inverters, which integrates a switched‐capacitor and a three‐winding switched‐coupled inductor into a conventional quasi Z‐source inverter (q‐ZSI). The proposed inverter is called a switched‐capacitor trans quasi Z‐source inverter (SCT‐q‐ZSI). In this topology, the input current is continuous, and a high voltage gain is reachable with lowduty cycles (D). In this structure, capacitors are used instead of the side diodes of the switched‐inductor quasi Z‐source inverter. The proposed converter has a low inrush current at the startup which might damage the converter components. The performance of the proposed inverter is investigated at different operating modes and the voltage and current equations of all elements are calculated. The analysis, derivation of boost factor, capacitor voltages, and components, of the proposed inverter, are carried out and are compared with similar inverters. Finally, analytical, simulation, and experimental results are also presented to validate its advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) have been noticed by researchers due to their high efficiency, low pollution, and high‐power density in distributed generation systems. In this paper, an LCL‐type grid‐tied PEMFC fuel cell power conditioning system is evaluated in a harmonics‐polluted low‐voltage grid. The LCL‐filters can lead to resonance and instability despite their capability to attenuate harmonics. In this research, a transformer has been used to connect the fuel cell inverter to the grid. The grid‐side inductor of LCL‐filter is realized by the leakage inductance of the transformer. In addition, for more effective resonance damping and attenuation of current ripples caused by the grid voltage harmonics, a capacitor voltage comprehensive feedback control has been designed and investigated. The comprehensive feedback control of the capacitor voltage contains proportional, first and second‐order derivative terms. In the proposed control scheme, the capacitor‐current‐feedback is opposed by the capacitor voltage derivative term due to reverse loop gain, which leads to deleting both of these loop gains. As a result, there is no need to utilize a current sensor in this control method. Consequently, the proportional and second‐order derivative terms of the capacitor voltage attenuate the LCL‐filter resonance. A low‐pass filter is also considered in the second‐order derivative loop in the controllable frequency range to ensure system stability. The simulation results of the PEMFC power conditioning system in different conditions confirm the proper attenuation of LCL resonance of grid‐tied inverter, high‐quality current injection to the harmonics polluted grid, the suitable stability, and the appropriate dynamic response for the proposed system. Under the proposed control scheme, the fuel cell power conditioning system demonstrates satisfactory stability. Even when reducing the LCL filter values by 5%–20%, the system maintains its stability effectively. Moreover, the THD of the injected current into the grid, employing the proposed control strategy, has been successfully reduced to an impressive value of 1.97% in a weak and harmonical grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid metal‐ion capacitors, merging the merits of batteries and supercapacitors, are considered as a promising energy storage technology able to satisfy the rising energy requirements of modern powered devices. Regrettably, their development is currently hampered by the diffusion‐controlled storage mechanism taking place at the battery‐type, negative electrode material. Herein we highlight and review the promising role of carbon nanospheres ‐that combine a dense morphology with short solid‐state diffusion pathways‐ in minimizing the kinetic restrictions in the battery‐type electrode. Besides, carbon nanospheres presenting a highly developed pore structure and readily available micropores fully satisfy the requirements for the supercapacitor‐type electrode. The recent findings collected in this concept paper support the suitability of carbon nanospheres for the production of negative and positive electrode materials for these hybrid systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this paper, an integrated coupled inductor–capacitor DC–DC high step‐up converter is proposed for the renewable energy systems. A DC–DC high step‐up converter is mandatory owing to the comparative low output voltage of renewable energy systems. A new configuration has been proposed in this paper, in which capacitor and coupled inductor are integrated into a converter to achieve the required results. To charge the capacitor a coupled inductor is used, not only the voltage gain significantly boosted and the switch voltage clamped inherently but also the turns ratio and part count scale down. When proposed converter operates in ORF mode, this results in the decline of conduction losses and enhances its efficiency. The proposed converter has good efficiency and simplest structure as it has only six components. This paper illustrates the key state operation principles of the proposed converter and derivation of its steady‐state operations. A prototype is designed, and experiments are performed in the laboratory to verify the precision of the theoretical analysis. The highest efficiency of 97% has been achieved in the laboratory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important challenge in single‐stage single‐phase micro‐inverters is reducing required capacitance by various active power decoupling (APD) techniques in order to use film capacitors with a longer lifetime instead of electrolytic capacitors. In this paper, a photovoltaic (PV)‐side parallel APD circuit based on a bidirectional flyback converter is proposed. This topology is able to increase the average and ripple voltages for the capacitor due to having a transformer and thus can reduce the required capacitance. In the control scheme, dual control loops on the main and decoupling circuits manage the micro‐inverter operation. The primary control loop is based on the instantaneous active and reactive power theory and a proportional resonant (PR) controller that is responsible for delivering the PV panel energy to the grid. The secondary control loop regulates the pulsation power on the dc‐link capacitor through the PR controller. Simulation results demonstrated that the proposed APD circuit and the control method could properly damp the pulsation power in the normal and reference tracking operations. Furthermore, the good robustness of the micro‐inverter was confirmed in shutdown and start‐up. Finally, the experimental results with a 180‐W single‐phase micro‐inverter prototype are presented, which validates the advantages of the proposed configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common inductor (CIM) and common capacitor (CCM) passive current-sharing methods have the advantages of simple implementation and low cost. However, there is still a lack of detailed comparative research on the two methods, which makes researchers confused when choosing the two methods. To provide clear scheme guidance, this paper provides a detailed comparison of the performance of the two methods. Firstly, this paper reveals the difference between the current waveforms of the two methods, that is, the current waveform of the CIM method is distorted, while the CCM method is non-distorted. Then, the mechanism of the above phenomenon is analysed in depth. Secondly, for comparing the current sharing performance of the two methods, the first harmonic approximation (FHA) equivalent circuit model considering parasitic parameters is established to obtain the system’s current sharing error model, and the parameter sensitivity analysis is provided. Finally, the relationship between the current waveform, current sharing error, and load ripple of the two methods is discussed. Then, based on the two methods, a more attractive common resonate tanks (CRT) current-sharing method is proposed. The correctness of the view in this paper has been verified by extensive simulations and experiment results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of aqueous zinc‐ion capacitors (ZICs) is an effective approach to improve the safety and environmental friendliness of energy storage devices. In this paper, TiC/CNTs core‐shell array structures (TCT) were synthesized on titanium substrate through in‐situ simple chemical vapor deposition and carbon reduction and used as self‐supporting cathodes for aqueous ZICs. As expected, as‐prepared TCT electrode exhibited excellent electrochemical performance in aqueous electrolytes, demonstrating a high specific capacitance of 275.13 F g−1 at a current density of 1.0 A g−1 and maintaining 90.5 % of its initial capacity after 10000 charge‐discharge cycles. The assembled Zn//TCT ZIC displays excellent rate capability, delivering an excellent specific capacitance of 298.2 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and 193.5 F g−1 at a high current density of 10 A g−1. Zn//TCT device can provide an ultra‐high energy density of 24.8 Wh kg−1 at a power of 6984.1 W kg−1. DFT calculations further demonstrate that a large number of electrons are transferred at the TiC/CNT interface and stable TIC−C bonds can be formed. This work provides a new strategy for rationally designing transition metal carbide electrodes and constructing ZICs with high energy and power densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional resistive gate driving circuits suffer from significant recovery gate driving losses, especially at MHz ranges. The increasing gate driving losses brought by high switching frequency place a limitation to the high power density converter design. This paper proposes a novel floating resonant gate driver which maintains high efficiency at several megahertz operating frequency. The gate loss reduction is achieved by adopting a resonant process with driving power recycling. Part of the gate driving power can be recycled to a gate driving capacitor in the gate driving loop during charging and discharging. The proposed gate driver merges the merits of fast switching speed and low gate driving losses. A prototype of LLC power converter with the proposed floating resonant gate driver operating at 3.5 MHz is implemented. According to the experimental verification, the proposed gate driver realized a driving loss reduction by 70% and theoretical analysis is in good agreement with experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shunt capacitors are usually installed in distribution grids for power factor correction. On the other hand, the number of harmonic‐producing sources such as wind turbines (WTs), photovoltaic (PV) panels, storage units, and electronic loads is rapidly growing in distribution grids. Since improper placement and sizing of shunt capacitors in harmonic‐polluted grids may aggravate power quality conditions and lead to harmonic resonance, special attention should be paid to this optimization problem when harmonics are present. In this paper, a framework based on shuffled frog leaping algorithm (SFLA) is proposed for optimal placement of fixed capacitor banks. Moreover, a resonance index (RI) is proposed for assessment and mitigation of potential harmonic resonance based on resonance mode analysis (RMA). The resonance mitigation method helps in avoiding power quality constraint violations and directs the algorithm toward the feasible solution space. It thus results in a higher efficiency, and the chance of reaching (near) globally optimum solutions increases. The proposed algorithm is particularly useful when detailed data regarding the harmonic injection pattern of nonlinear sources is not available. The proposed framework is implemented on the IEEE 18, 34, and 69‐bus test systems, and the results demonstrate its advantages, especially in larger grids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper suggests an extendable voltage boosting gain unit (EVBGU) using switched‐capacitors SC with a single DC source. The proposed unit can be extended by a modular pattern to increase the output voltage levels and voltage‐boosting gain of the inverter. The main feature of this work is presenting a unit topology that utilizes multiple and modular subcells to achieve (double, quadruple, hexapole, octapule, etc.) voltage gain at the output by increasing the number of the subcells. All the subcells are connected only with one DC source. A positive feedback technique has been used to charge the capacitors of the unit using the accumulative charging voltage (ACV) method. Furthermore, all the capacitors are self‐balanced, so there is no need for any additional and complex control circuit. Moreover, to decrease the cost factor of the inverter, a low IGBT switch count is taken into consideration and no passive elements such as diodes are used in the proposed structure. The H‐bridge is connected to the unit to achieve bipolar voltage at the output. The operational analysis of the inverter is delineated in detail. A comparative study, with state‐of‐the‐art MLIs in different terms such as the number of components, the total standing voltage, and the gain, shows the particularity of the proposed EVBGU. The simulation of the proposed MLI is performed using PSCAD‐EMTDC software. The simulation results are validated experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial applications tend to involve a substantial assemblage of electronic devices, and it is imperative to consider diverse charging requirements while charging these devices. This paper proposes a three‐coil single‐input‐and‐dual‐output (SIDO) inductive power transfer (IPT) system to meet the charging requirements of different devices. The system includes two independent output ports, providing constant voltage (CV) output and constant current (CC) output for different loads, respectively. In addition, the zero‐phase angle (ZPA) operation can be achieved, thus avoiding injection of reactive power and improving energy transfer efficiency. Unlike previous related studies, the receiver of the proposed SIDO IPT system only includes one receiving coil to pick up energy, eliminating unnecessary cross‐coupling and complex decoupling circuits in traditional IPT systems with multiple outputs. This study first analyzes the CC/CV output theory of the proposed SIDO IPT system in detail, and designs and optimizes the parameters by establishing an equivalent model. Then, the conditions for achieving zero‐voltage switching (ZVS) operation of the inverter are obtained by analyzing the sensitivity of CC/CV performance to the variation of the compensation capacitors. Finally, a verification experimental prototype with 2.5A CC output and 72 V CV output is established to verify the effectiveness of the proposed IPT system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new modular‐isolated‐forward‐based active snubber cell (SC) for power switches is designed. In the proposed new SC, the zero voltage transition (ZVT) technique is implemented with a forward converter although the current counterparts generally use a flyback converter. In the converter with the new SC, the main switch is turned on with ZVT (full zero voltage switching [ZVS]) and turned off with ZVS, the main diode is turned off with zero current switching (ZCS), the auxiliary switch is turned on with ZCS and turned off with ZVS, and the parasitic capacitor energies are recovered. In addition, thanks to the forward converter, it has been possible to minimize the transformer leakage inductance and greatly reduce the current values of devices in the new SC. The new cell is applied to a single‐phase, grid‐connected, T‐type three‐level inverter (T2‐3LI) as an example. A detailed steady‐state analysis of this inverter was made, and the theoretical analysis was confirmed with measurement results taken from a prototype with 100 kHz and 3.3 kW values. Compared to its hard switching (HS) equivalent, in the converter with soft switching (SS) cell, the total circuit loss was reduced from about 248 W to 86 W, thus achieving an increase in the total efficiency from 92.5% to 97.4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The article proposes a new DC‐link voltage balancing method for a single‐phase, five‐level DC/AC neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter. Nowadays, the NPC converter is a suitable solution for various applications; however, the unequal voltage of the DC‐link capacitors is a significant disadvantage of this topology. In this paper, a simple auxiliary unit is inserted in the DC‐link to enable a self‐balancing capacitor voltage. The auxiliary circuit is composed of two capacitors and four active switching devices. The idea of the proposed method is to construct an active DC‐link bus; thus, the two DC‐link capacitors can be connected in series during the charging process and in parallel during the discharging process. As a result, its capacitance and root mean square (RMS) current are greatly reduced. Unlike other auxiliary circuits, the new method requires no additional storage elements or complex control systems. The operating principle and switching schemes are analyzed. The effectiveness of the introduced method is evaluated experimentally using the balancing circuits under different load conditions and different value of modulation indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A power tracking method based on improved variable‐step perturbation observation approach has been proposed in this paper. This method is aimed at addressing the detuning issues caused by capacitor parameter drift in MCR‐WPT systems based on S‐S compensation circuits. Compared with traditional tuning methods, the proposed method has fast response, high accuracy, low complexity, and less prone to over‐tracking. Firstly, a mathematical model of the system based on the detuning factor has been established. Secondly, the impact of different detuning conditions on the system at the initial resonant frequency has been studied. Thirdly, the response characteristics of the system to different frequencies under different detuning conditions have been studied. Fourthly, based on the above researches, an improved variable‐step perturbation observation method based on the single‐step power drop factor has been proposed. Finally, an experimental platform was constructed, and relevant experiments were conducted. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of power tracking under different detuning conditions, with the lowest transmission efficiency being 81.51%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper describes a novel seven‐level (7L) inverter. The suggested topology offers a 7L output voltage and a threefold gain by using proper capacitor values. The suggested topology reduces the spike current induced by the capacitor by the use of a resonant inductor. The suggested inverter's performance under various loads and situations is compared with those found in existing literature. The simulation findings confirm the system's strong performance in terms of component count, control circuit simplicity, and possible cost reductions, while retaining similar or enhanced performance metrics as compared with the aforementioned topologies. A laboratory setup is used to validate the feasibility of the suggested topology and provide solid evidence of its effectiveness. Furthermore, discussions about the possible uses of this structure in energy conversion are conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a resonant switched capacitor converter (RSCC) topology that enhances the operational efficiency by utilizing devices with reduced ratings. The RSCC eliminates bulky magnetic elements, yielding increased power density, modular structure, and compact size compared with switched inductor topologies. Significantly, all the switched capacitors in the proposed converter and approximately 50% of the switching power devices are explicitly rated for the input voltage enabling its use for high‐power applications. A compact inductor is utilized for resonant operation, and the switching frequency of the converter is significantly reduced leading to reduced switching losses and improved efficiency. Zero current turn‐ON and turn‐OFF of the switching devices is achieved. Elimination of load‐side bulky capacitor using inherent output voltage ripple reduction is achieved by aligning the switching phases of the converter such that individual capacitor voltage ripple gets cancelled out. The work extensively covers the analysis of the converter in steady‐state and the effect of non‐idealities during the resonant operation. Further, a detailed design of the topology with a discussion on component selection is presented. The operation of the proposed converter is systematically analyzed through a series of simulation results generated, and the converter is further validated by developing an experimental prototype at a power of 200 W with an efficiency of 95.83%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, using a combination of pulse testing measurements and piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), an investigation of the polarization reversal behavior and the accompanying resistive switching in the Al0.72Sc0.28N thin film capacitors is reported. The obtained results reveal a transition from the nucleation‐limited switching (NLS) in the low field range toward the more uniform switching described by the Kolmogorov–Avrami–Ishibashi (KAI) model in the high field range. It is found that the Al0.72Sc0.28N capacitors exhibit an unusually steep change in the switching time– it decreases by five orders of magnitude with a moderate increase of the applied field. This feature is caused by a significantly higher activation field value (≈126 MV cm−1) in comparison with the conventional perovskite ferroelectrics. PFM visualization of the field‐induced domain dynamics has allowed the evaluation of the nucleation rate and domain wall velocity. Furthermore, capacitors in the polydomain state generated by partial switching of polarization exhibit a significant (up to two orders of magnitude) increase in the steady‐state conductance. This effect is likely caused by the injection of strongly inclined conducting 180° domain walls. Resistance tunability offers additional functionalities to the Al1‐xScxN devices where conductive domain walls are used as active elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel generalized step‐up switched‐capacitor multilevel inverter (SCMLI) appropriate for low/medium voltage input applications. To reduce the overall number of power switches, the suggested topology makes use of reduction switch count (SC) technology. The complementary working mechanism of each pair of switches simplifies the modulation method. The complete inductive‐load capability is taken into account in the proposed inverter. Furthermore, because capacitor voltages are automatically balanced, complex voltage control circuitry is not necessary. Due to a reduction in current spikes on the devices, the topology also has the ability to soft‐charge the capacitors in a quasi‐resonant manner. Performance is also enhanced by extending the lifetime and dependability of the inverters. The construction, operation, modulation method, values of the capacitors, and circuit losses are explained to demonstrate how the suggested topology should function. One of the inverter's primary differentiators from the others is its double‐boosting capability based on reduced components. Based on loss calculations, a thorough analysis of the suggested topology's efficiency of 98.31% is presented. Next, the benefits of the suggested inverter are compared to those of other inverters that have been recently suggested. The steady‐state and dynamic performance of the suggested topology is then confirmed by modeling the system on the Simulink platform and performing experiments using a DSP‐based prototype experimental setup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new circuit approach to realize a capacitance multiplier circuit with positive and negative multiplication factors. Based on this approach, two new implementations of positive and negative grounded capacitance multiplier (GCM) circuits are proposed, which utilize only one current follower differential input transconductance amplifier (CFDITA), in conjunction with only one resistor and one virtually grounded capacitor. The presented GCM circuits can enhance a low capacitance value to a very high value (used in low frequency applications), up to 9202 times its original value. An important aspect of the proposed circuits involves designing a lossy parallel inductor circuit by interchanging the passive elements (RC:CR transformation) with each other. The obtained value of the capacitance and inductance can be controlled independently and electronically through the transconductance of CFDITA. The practical usability of the suggested circuits as first and second order filters is discussed. The functionality of the proposed GCM circuits is validated using CMOS CFDITA implemented with 180 nm TSMC technology parameters. Experimental verification of the proposed circuits and application examples is reinforced through the utilization of CFDITA implemented with readily available ICs AD844 and LM13700. These outcomes emphasize the dependability of the suggested circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The four‐level hybrid clamp converter (4L‐HCC) is one of the next‐generation multilevel topologies due to its simplified structure and excellent performance. However, it consists of several DC‐link and flying capacitors, which must be precharged to the rated voltage before the normal operation. Without proper control, those internal capacitors could easily induce inrush currents and cause system fatal failure due to the unsymmetrical circuit structure. This paper proposes soft start‐up control methods for both single‐phase and three‐phase HCCs. The precharging mathematical models of DC‐link and flying capacitors are established. A straightforward algorithm using the selected switching states and rotating regions is developed to build precharging circuits properly. A full‐scale simulation model and a downscale laboratory prototype of the 4L‐HCC are established to validate the superiority of the proposed method. Results demonstrate that the proposed approach is effective in charging all capacitors through internal elements rapidly with suppressed and controllable charging currents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The modular‐multilevel converter (MMC) faces the problem of second order ripples in the sub‐module DC capacitor voltage during the low frequency operation at the load side. To sort out this problem, this paper demonstrates a three‐phase modified MMC that includes a novel circuit placed between upper and lower arms of each phase, where load is connected through proposed circuit. The aim of the proposed circuit is to reduce the magnitude of the ripples in each sub‐module's DC capacitor voltage; moreover, it also uses a less number of components compared with the conventional circuits. In order to keep the capacitor voltage at its rated value and to prevent the development of common mode voltage, the proposed circuit uses the high frequency‐based power transfer control channel for balancing power between the upper or top and lower or bottom arms. Furthermore, the mathematical analysis, operating principle, and proposed control is explained in detail for the conventional MMC and modified MMC. The simulation results have been obtained for the modified MMC with resistive load by using MATLAB and Simulink. An experimental test results have been verified with simulation results for the modified MMC topology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Two‐stage converters are widely used in many industrial scenarios, especially in the field of new energy. Through the cascade of two single‐stage converters, the two‐stage converter combines their advantages and can achieve high efficiency in a wide input voltage range. However, the two‐stage converter usually needs a large capacitor to balance the instantaneous power difference between the front stage and the rear stage. The ripple current flowing through the capacitor will affect its lifetime and the overall efficiency of the converter. Although there are many ways to reduce the ripple current, they will increase the complexity of the circuit structure. Therefore, a two‐stage coordinated control strategy is proposed in this paper, which not only reduces the ripple current flowing through the capacitor without increasing the circuit complexity but also effectively improves the efficiency and life of the two‐stage converter. According to the proposed control strategy, taking the Boost cascade LLC resonant converter as the model, a prototype with rated power of 1000 W is established in the laboratory. The experimental results verify the feasibility of the strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modular Multilevel Converters (MMCs) are promising candidates for high‐voltage high‐power applications. The main challenge of the MMCs is the zero‐frequency operation. To achieve a successful DC–DC conversion process with balanced capacitors' voltages with limited voltage ripple, this paper suggests the employment of the conventional two‐leg half‐bridge submodule‐based MMC structure in conjunction with a single bidirectional high‐voltage (HV) valve across the low‐voltage side. In the suggested structure, the HV valve is controlled on and off to ensure energy equalization for the MMC arms. In addition, soft‐switching for the HV valve is proposed to reduce the switching losses. Detailed illustration and design of the proposed concept are presented. Simulation and experimentation results are elucidated to show the effectiveness of the proposed DC–DC hybrid MMC. The results showed efficient performance of the suggested converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capacitance and Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) junction temperature are two critical healthy parameters for modular multilevel converters (MMC) sub‐modules (SMs) condition monitoring. This paper proposes an integrated monitoring method for capacitance degradation and IGBT junction temperature variation. By measuring multiple characteristics of the same port voltage, the capacitance and the junction temperature can be obtained simultaneously, which greatly simplifies the measurement unit required for condition evaluation and realizes the submodule‐level condition monitoring at a lower cost. The capacitance is characterized by voltage changes during capacitor discharging and the junction temperature is monitored by capacitor voltage overshoot (peak value) during IGBT turn‐off. Theoretical analysis and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method and articulated the influence of load current, SM capacitor pre‐discharge voltage, and junction temperature. Moreover, an online data‐acquisition circuit for time‐specific capacitor voltage characterization is devised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brushless doubly‐fed air‐core pulse alternator (BDAPA) is a new type of pulse alternator. It does not need a brush and slip ring, improving the reliability of the system. Moreover, the field winding and rotor winding have good compensation effect, which can significantly improve the discharge performance of the pulse alternator. As a high‐power pulse power supply, BDAPA must have a set of corresponding excitation power supplies to control its excitation. Pulse alternator and excitation power supply constitute the pulse alternator power supply system. The excitation power supply of pulse alternator usually adopts a pulse capacitor, the field winding of pulse alternator is excited by the pre‐charged capacitor before the pulse alternator discharges the load. After discharging, the excitation capacitor must be charged again before the next work of pulse alternator. This requires an additional set of DC power supply to charge the excitation capacitor. It not only increases the volume of the whole system and reduces the energy storage density of the system, but also makes the control of the system more complex. Taking the BDAPA as the research object, this paper proposes a control method with energy feedback, which is combining self‐excitation and separate excitation. Using the inertial energy storage of the pulse alternator and the inductive energy storage of the field winding and rotor winding, the excitation capacitor can be recharged through proper control methods, which can save the DC excitation power supply and improve the energy storage density of the system. © 2023 Institute of Electrical Engineer of Japan and Wiley Periodicals LLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]