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In this paper, a Two-Channel AlGaN/GaN structure of Metal-Oxide Semiconductor High-Electron Mobility Transistors (MOS-HEMTs) with TiO2 gate dielectric is presented. Also, we have examined its electrical characteristics, such as band structure, the electric field, and electric potential. The proposed device's performance is always affected by the effects of self-heating. The performance of the proposed transistor has been evaluated by considering thermal models in Silvaco TCAD software. The simulation results show that the self-heating has significant effects on the response of the proposed device. We conclude that the drain current at VDS = 2 V is reduced by about 16%. Also, the mobility of electrons in both created channels of the structure can significantly reduce (nearly 34%). Therefore, it can be found that the self-heating effect leads to the degradation of the proposed transistor performance. In this paper, the self-heating effects of the MOS-HEMT transistor are reduced by using 6H-SiC material as a passive layer and placing a field plate near the gate. The results confirm that the breakdown voltage and drain current have increased by more than 78 and 20%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buckling analysis of functionally graded piezoelectric nanoshell is studied in this paper based on the higher-order shear and normal deformation theory and accounting thickness stretching effect. The nanoshell is subjected to axial load, applied electric potential and thermal loads. Thickness stretching effect is accounted in the analysis based on higher-order shear and normal deformation theory. Small scale effects are accounted based on the Eringen nonlocal elasticity theory. The Navier solution is used for the buckling analysis of the cylindrical nanoshell with simply-supported boundary conditions. The accuracy and trueness of the present paper is justified using comparison with literature. The importance of the present analysis and corresponding results is justified using presentation of results with and without thickness stretching effect. A large parametric analysis is presented to investigate the influence of significant parameters such as dimensionless small scale parameter, length to radius ratio, thickness to radius ratio, temperature rising and applied electric voltage on critical buckling axial loads. One can conclude that the critical buckling axial loads are decreased with increase of small scale parameters and applied electric potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Improvised asymptotic boundary conditions are a sparse but approximate method of solving open boundary problems. Since this method approximates unbounded space as series of isotropic shells, it can be readily implemented in virtually any finite element solver without the need for additional code. A previous paper addressed application of this technique to magnetic problems described with a vector potential formulation. This paper extends the method to electrostatics and related scalar potential formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive study of dielectric modulated (DM) drift regions for power devices is presented in this paper. The performance of this structure is theoretically analyzed and compared with both conventional and superjunction (SJ) structures. In this paper, an analytical model for DM drift regions with cylindrical cells is proposed and compared with linear cells. An optimal tradeoff between breakdown voltage (BV) and specific ON-resistance ( R\scriptscriptstyle ON,sp) is obtained by a methodology developed in this paper. 3-D simulations of DM structures with hexagonal cells approximated by cylindrical cells are conducted to verify the analytical model. Optimal BV– R\scriptscriptstyle ON,sp tradeoffs for devices with conventional and SJ drift regions are also obtained through the same methodology and verified by 3-D simulations. Static characteristics of these three different drift region structures in both Si and SiC power devices are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DC microgrid has attracted more and more attention due to its unique characteristics, but the development of a dc microgrid is also facing some challenges, such as interruption and isolation of short-circuit fault currents. Therefore, the dc circuit breaker plays an important role in ensuring the normal work of a dc microgrid. In this paper, a novel bidirectional dc solid-state circuit breaker is proposed to realize the bidirectional flow of energy, which ensures the higher operating efficiency of the dc microgrid. Compared with other solid-state circuit breakers, the proposed novel topology has simpler structure, common ground, and fewer components. First, this paper makes a detailed analysis of the different working stages of the circuit when the fault occurs in combination with simulation results of the circuit topology. Then, the standard of selecting the components through the calculation and analysis of the circuit is given in this paper. Finally, the performance of the novel bidirectional solid-state circuit breaker is verified by experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dielectric screening property of a semiconductor is very crucial for the electrical characteristics of a MOSFET, and which can be described mathematically by Poisson equation via the permittivity. While the theory and experiments have corroborated the permittivity reduction of nanoscale Si, this paper studies the electrical characteristics of MOSFETs considering the reduced channel permittivity by quantum transport simulations. It is found that the channel permittivity reduction may mitigate the short-channel effects, showing subthreshold swing improvement and threshold voltage shift of MOSFETs in nanoscale. Compared to quantization effects, the positive and negative impacts of the channel permittivity reduction on the devices in particularly nanoscale have been investigated. This paper elucidates the necessity of considering semiconductor permittivity reduction for nanoscale device design and simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multichannel digital sinewave generators play a key role in digital automated impedance bridges. Along with the technological progress in the development of commercial data acquisition (DAQ) boards, which brings with it improvements in their metrological and functional properties, it is possible to realize the DAQ-based high-precision multichannel generators. This paper describes the evaluation of properties of three commercial DAQs, available in the form of PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation modules and working as two-channel generators supervised by software developed by the authors. Due to the fact that the main application area of these generators is digital impedance bridges, this paper presents research results the most relevant for the impedance bridges, i.e., the stability of amplitude ratio and phase difference as well as total harmonic distortion and spurious-free dynamic range. The results and conclusion presented in this paper may be useful when choosing DAQs intended to be used in the multichannel generators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The instability of amorphous indium–gallium–zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) under ultraviolet (UV) light was thoroughly investigated in this paper. Unlike in a darkened state, an off-state leakage current can be found in the dual-sweep I–V transfer curve of a-IGZO TFTs under UV light illumination. Furthermore, despite the same UV light condition, the forward sweep and reverse sweep show different I–V curves, representing two different physical mechanisms. First, the subthreshold swing degradation and threshold voltage shift to the negative direction in the forward sweep are due to the total channel barrier lowering and can be confirmed by changing the light exposure region. Second, in the reverse sweep, the suggested back-channel leakage current can be controlled by dual-gate TFTs. UV light exposure of the metal–insulator–semiconductor–metal structure verifies that the off-state leakage current passes through the back channel in a reverse sweep. Finally, the physical mechanism links between forward and reverse sweeps have comprehensive interpretation in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an extension of the procedure pointed out to evaluate the distortion of the exponential signal, modeled as multiexponential signal with different amplitudes and time constants. This procedure evaluates the distortion by applying the Prony-like method to the signal reconstructed by zero-crossing time evaluated on the difference between the exponential original signal and the reference sinusoidal one. The extension proposed in this paper concerns with the use of the low-chirp signal as reference instead of the sinusoidal signal. The low-chirp signal permits to increase the number of the zero-crossing time in the section of exponential signal with the higher slope and decreasing in the section with the lower slope. This setting permits to estimate the distortion of the exponential signal with higher accuracy and precision. The parameters’ amplitude, phase, and start frequency of the reference low-chirp signal are used to reconstruct the exponential signal in the zero-crossing time in order to overcome the problem of the high-resolution sampling. Their estimation is carried out by the time-varying sine-fitting algorithm that processes the resulting signal that is the difference between the exponential original signal and the low-chirp signal. Advantages of the proposed extended procedure regard the direct estimation of the reference low-chirp signal parameters from the resulting signal over-sampled at low resolution, and the use of only one input acquisition channel that permits to overcome the synchronization problem between the reference and the resulting signal. The numerical and experimental tests validate the extended procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the first known composition to demonstrate the application of quintic splines in the development of a dual-gate MOSFET model based on the well-known drift-diffusion system of differential equations used in semiconductor analysis. The techniques and methodologies presented advance the current state of the art in this particular area by implementing improved 2-D numerical techniques and avoiding the use of common accuracy reducing assumptions to decrease semiconductor equation complexity and execution time. This results in a model that is valid in all regions of operation, includes Non-Quasi static transient behavior, accounts for short channel effects, and allows researchers to predict the real world manufacturing effects of gate oxide thickness imperfections and applied gate voltage disparities. Model validation was accomplished by comparing simulation results to previously published experimental data for long and short channel devices as well as data generated using an established commercial product. In addition, a subsequent paper submission is planned to demonstrate the application of this modeling method in determining frequency response for simple CMOS circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new configuration of dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) reactor with three electrodes was manufactured and used to produce ozone. Designed flatly, this reactor is capable of establishing three different discharge modes from type of the volume and surface discharges, without modifying its internal structure. The aim of presenting this paper is to experimentally analyze the three discharge modes and their combination using a second channel to produce ozone. The two reactor channels are identical in terms of dimensions, material, and manufacturing process. Two frequency-adjustable pulse generators of the same electrical characteristics and two high-voltage transformers were used in the course of the experiments. The applied sinusoidal voltage is from 0 to 12 kVp-p. The frequency range was determined and fixed for all three discharge modes for the highest ozone concentration at a fluctuation rate of 1 L/min. Effects of increasing the applied voltage on the obtained concentration from the three different discharge modes were experimentally analyzed. Using the provided inlets–outlets, the effect of flowing gas through the length and width of the discharge area on ozone concentration was investigated, and appropriate flow directions were determined for the flowing gas under either of the three discharge modes. Experimentally results have been done for this three discharge modes as well as hybrid modes. The maximum ozone production rate achieved up to 14.52 g/h in the series combination of two different volume discharge. At 96% oxygen purity, ozone production yield, in two modes volume discharge VaDBD and surface discharge SDBD, have been improved up to 529.87 g/kWh. However, the total input power of the entire system is 120.2 W. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a complete flux scheme (CFS) has been implemented in 1-D fluid model for simulating the pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in pure argon at atmospheric pressure. The characteristic quantities of the pulsed DBD have been systematically calculated by using the CFS and presented in comparison with those by using the exponential difference scheme (EDS). This paper shows the following results. There is the two-pulse discharge mode in the present simulation. The two discharge currents obtained using the CFS and EDS converge to the same result in good agreement with the experiment as spatial step length decreases, but the CFS has a fast convergence performance compared to the EDS. With a small grid number, the numerical scheme has an evident effect on the characteristic quantities in the time region corresponding to the first discharge pulse. This paper suggests that in the pulsed DBD, the usage of the CFS with a properly small grid number can give more accurate result and also presents a high calculation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a model for estimating short-channel effects (SCEs) in the shell-doped double-gate junctionless (JL) MOSFET. The main emphasis of this paper is to estimate SCEs by effectively capturing source/drain (S/D) extensions beyond the gate edges for different values of undoped core thickness (${T}_{\textsf {core}}$), shell doping (${N}_{\textsf {d}}$), gate length (${L}_{\textsf {g}}$), and gate (${V}_{\textsf {gs}}$) and drain (${V}_{\textsf {ds}}$) biases in subthreshold regime. The threshold voltage (${V}_{\textsf {th}}$), drain-induced barrier lowering and subthreshold swing (${S}$), extracted from transfer characteristics, are in good agreement with the simulation results. Results highlight the utility of shell doping and core thickness to provide an additional degree of freedom to control SCEs. The proposed model can be useful in estimating SCEs and optimizing core–shell JL architecture for low-power applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The minimum specific ON-resistance $\text{R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\textsf {sp}}$ of the semisuperjunction (semi-SJ) device is realized in this paper. Based on the similar SJ optimization method in our previous works, the minimum $\text{R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\textsf {sp}}$ of the semi-SJ is searched by optimizing both the semi-SJ and the N-buffer regions. The proposed design formulas give the optimized doping concentration $\text{N}_{\textsf {SJ}}$ of the semi-SJ region, doping concentration $\text{N}_{\textsf {B}}$ , and length $\text{L}_{\textsf {B}}$ of the N-buffer region, respectively. As examples, 1000- and 1500-V semi-SJ devices are designed with the formulas. The calculated results are in a good agreement with the simulations. The comparisons between the simulations and the existing experiments demonstrate that the optimization in this paper realizes lower $\text{R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\textsf {sp}}$ under the same breakdown voltage $\text{V}_{\textsf {B}}$ even with a shorter SJ length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past measurements of the plasma density and potential profiles near the exit of the keeper electrode in a hollow cathode device suggested that turbulent ion acoustic fluctuations and ionization instability in the cathode plume significantly increased the energy of the ions that flow from this region. The lifetime of keeper electrode is limited by sputtering or ion bombardment of the Molybdenum surface exposed to the discharge plasma. Increases in the cathode gas flow reduce the amplitude of the fluctuations and the number and energy of the energetic ions, which decreases the erosion rate of the keeper electrodes. However, as the cathode gas flow is raised for a given discharge current, the performance of a 5-kW Annular-Geometry Ion Engine (AGI-Engine) declines. There is a strong relationship between the performance and the lifetime of the ion thruster. To validate whether the 20-A hollow cathode satisfied China’s communication satellite platform’s application requirement for North-South station keeping, this paper analyzed the effect of the cathode gas flow on the performance and the lifetime of the AGI-Engine. Different from the previous methods, this paper first tracked the movement of energetic ions generated in the plume of the hollow cathode, predicted erosion rates, found where they hit the keeper electrode, and then determined the amount of material that they sputtered. A review of past experimental results was presented first. Next, based on the existing experimental data, theoretical analysis and numerical calculations were performed to determine the optimum gas flow range and the performance curve of the 20-A hollow cathode. The results showed that the primary erosion mechanism of the keeper electrode was caused by impact from Charge Exchange Xenon (CEX) ions, which caused the cathode orifice to be widened and attenuated over time. However, heavy double xenon ($\text{X}_{\text{e}}^{++}$) ions, which struck the keeper electrode more severely than CEX ions, were the most crucial factor that limited the lifetime of the 20-A hollow cathode due to their high energy and large mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An improved hybrid unified power flow controller (IHUPFC) is developed in this paper to control the power flow and increase the utilization rate of the existing transmission lines. The IHUPFC is composed of an improved “Sen” transformer (IST) and a small capacity unified power flow controller (UPFC). After a detailed introduction of the structure and voltage regulation performance of the IST, this paper derives the capacity relationship between the IST and the UPFC. Then, this paper introduces the technology of the IHUPFC in power flow regulation and transmission capability improvement. Besides, the advantages of the IHUPFC in performance and structure are analyzed. The IST has simpler structure and larger power flow control area than a “Sen” transformer, and the IHUPFC provides a continuous active and reactive power flow control. Simulation and experiment studies are used to verify the practicability and superiority of the IHUPFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the switching behavior of silicon-on-insulator light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Through the comparison of various device geometries, we establish the dimensional dependence of the switching speed of the LED. TCAD simulations are in line with the experimental results. Our findings indicate that ON–OFF keying up to GHz frequencies should be feasible with such diodes, although a design optimized for higher frequency operation will exhibit a reduced light emission efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the pinning process of pinned photodiodes (PPDs) is described by a new analytical model, assuming the PPD to be composed of inner and junction regions. There are two definitions of the pinning potential: maximum conduction band potential variation ($\Delta \varphi _{M}$) and maximum electron quasi-fermi level potential variation ($\Delta $ FP $_{M}$). The output of the previous pinning potential models is only an approximation of $\Delta \varphi _{M}$. In this paper, a comprehensive model is proposed in which both aforementioned definitions of pinning potential can be achieved analytically. The proposed model is a system of equations relating PPD’s main characteristics such as $\Delta \varphi _{M}$ and equilibrium full-well capacity to other main PPD parameters such as PPD spatial dimensions, impurity dopant concentrations, maximum inner region potential, and remnant carrier population at $\Delta \varphi _{M}$. The proposed model is verified by two previously reported experiment-based data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stacks of 2-D materials, known as van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures, have gained vast attention due to their interesting electrical and optoelectronic properties. This paper presents an intuitive circuit model for the out-of-plane electrostatics of a vdW heterostructure composed of an arbitrary number of layers of 2-D semiconductors, graphene, or metal. We explain the mapping between the out-of-plane energy band diagram and the elements of the equivalent circuit. Although the direct solution of the circuit model for an n-layer structure is not possible due to the variable, nonlinear quantum capacitance of each layer, this paper uses the intuition gained from the energy band picture to provide an efficient solution in terms of a single variable. Our method employs Fermi–Dirac statistics while properly modeling the finite density of states (DOS) of 2-D semiconductors and graphene. The approach circumvents difficulties that arise in commercial TCAD tools, such as the proper handling of the 2-D DOS and the simulation boundary conditions when the structure terminates with a nonmetallic material. Based on this methodology, we have developed 2dmatstacks, an open-source tool freely available on nanohub.org. Overall, this paper equips researchers to analyze, understand, and predict experimental results in complicated vdW stacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel emulation system for emulating the power system in the fuel cell electric vehicle. The major purpose of the proposed emulation system is to test the dc–dc converter between the fuel cell and high-voltage powertrain. The bidirectional buck–boost type dc–dc converter is applied in the emulation system as the basic elements. A modularized approach is presented for easily scaling up and down the power level of the emulation system. Meanwhile, an energy loop structure is implemented in the proposed emulation system for power capability boosting purpose. Because of the proposed energy loop configuration, the emulation system offers long-term running capability with high power rating without the grid connection. A neutral current control mechanism is applied in this paper to further enhance the long-term testing capability as well as extending the lifespan for the battery packages. The simulation studies are proposed in this paper to validate the control mechanisms of the emulation system. A 10 kW hardware prototype has been built and the experimental tests are presented for validating the functionalities of the emulation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the damping ability of point of common coupling (PCC) voltage feedforward is analyzed in order to improve the stability of current control, in which interference with an LCL filter of a battery energy storage system (BESS) and synchronous inductance of a diesel generator is considered in a stand-alone microgrid. A BESS can be charged by a diesel generator when the state of charge of the battery bank is significantly insufficient and where the BESS operates with constant current constant voltage control and the diesel generator provides constant voltage constant frequency control. In this case, large synchronous when the diesel generator is in a steady state may severely cause the instability of current control. The stability analysis should be required to guarantee the paralleled operation between BESS and diesel generator. An equivalent circuit model of the diesel generator is needed to perform these processes. To bring availability of analysis, this paper considers a simple equivalent circuit model considering synchronous inductance in the steady state, and it has very large inductance corresponding 1 per unit. The resonance issue is attenuated by the damping ability of PCC voltage feedforward where it is possible to improve the stability by appropriately adjusting the gain of the voltage feedforward. The effects of the synchronous inductance and the feedforward loop are analyzed in the s-domain and z-domain. The gain of the voltage feedforward is determined to be 0.2 and 0.4 based on stability analysis. To verify the validity of the damping effect of PCC voltage feedforward, a demonstration site is constructed and the stability is verified through simulation and experiment with a full model, and total harmonic distortion of current is improved to 2.44%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a semianalytical model to estimate short-channel effects for independent gate operation in double-gate (DG) junctionless (JL) MOSFET incorporating gate-to-source/drain underlap, through the solution of Poisson’s equations in the subthreshold regime. The model also accounts for the asymmetry in device operation through variation in gate oxide thicknesses, gate work functions, and underlap lengths. Subthreshold drain current, threshold voltage, and subthreshold swing, evaluated from the channel potential, show reasonable agreement with simulation data. Results suggest the use of negative back gate bias and longer underlap length to reduce off-current. This paper highlights the role of doping, underlap length, and back gate bias in tuning the threshold voltage. This model serves as a generic formulation (within limits) with different asymmetries to estimate, design, and optimize self-aligned DG JL transistors for subthreshold logic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface voltage of an insulator assumes importance for understanding tracking and flashover characteristics. Until now, determination of surface voltage of insulating surfaces is left to simulation software and such simulations are left unverified experimentally, leading to uncertainty of the results, which may sometimes be erratic with improper choice of boundary or initial conditions or inaccurate material properties, nonlinearities etc. The paper presents a novel method, using which the surface voltage of any insulating surface such as insulator strings or transformer bushings can be measured. Unlike a conducting surface, the measurement of insulating surface voltage using voltage dividers would be erratic as the measuring arrangement itself will vary the voltage division due to the local unknown impedance between the insulated surface and hv conductor. Recently a method for measurement of surface voltage of an insulated conductor using cylindrical strips was reported. In this paper, based on analytical derivations, a more generalized method of measurement, applicable to any point on an insulating surface of arbitrary geometry is proposed using circular-disc strips. The proposed experimental method is applied to insulator strings and transformer bushings and validated by simulation of the entire systems. The simulation and experimental results are in excellent agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel approach to demand side management (DSM), using an “individualized” price policy, where each end user receives a separate electricity pricing scheme designed to incentivize demand management in order to optimally manage flexible demands. These pricing schemes have the objective of reducing the peaks in overall system demand in such a way that the average electricity price each individual user receives is non-discriminatory. It is shown in this paper that this approach has a number of advantages and benefits compared to traditional DSM approaches. The “demand aware price policy” approach outlined in this paper exploits the knowledge, or demand-awareness, obtained from advanced metering infrastructure. The presented analysis includes a detailed case study of an existing European distribution network where DSM trial data was available from the residential end-users. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Superjunction has arguably been the most creative and important concept in the power device field since the introduction of the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) in the 1980s. It is the only concept known today that has challenged and ultimately proved wrong the well-known theoretical study on the limit of silicon in high-voltage devices. This paper deals with the history, device and process development, and the future prospects of Superjunction technologies. It covers fundamental physics, technological challenges as well as aspects of design and modeling of unipolar devices, such as CoolMOS. The superjunction concept is compared to other methods of enhancing the conductivity of power devices (from bipolar to employment of wide-bandgap materials) to derive its set of benefits and limitations. This paper closes with the application of the superjunction concept to other structures or materials, such as terminations, superjunction IGBTs, or silicon carbide Field Effect Transistors (FETs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased effect of process variation and increase in parasitic resistance and capacitance in nano scale technologies at lower supply voltages, and continuous increase in the size of SRAMs require additional techniques, such as write assist and read assist to improve the write-ability, readability, and stability of SRAM memories. The SRAM bit cell write-ability is very critical at lower voltages. The impact of the write assist technique is analysed in this paper which will improve the write-ability of the SRAM memory and also its impact on the performance, power, and area of the chip. The Negative Bit-line Voltage Bias scheme is discussed and executed at the transistor level using conventional SRAM cell (6T). With the write assist circuit, the implemented SRAM bit cell efficiently performs a write operation at lower voltages. The main objective of this paper is to improve the write-ability of the SRAM cell at lower supply voltage using Negative Bit-line Write Assist Circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a meshless method based on the weighted least square method for electrohydrodynamic problems. In this paper, the behavior of a water droplet in a uniform electric field is calculated by this method. The effectiveness of this analysis method is verified through comparison between the analyzed result and theoretical result of the electric potential around the droplet. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a new photovoltaic (PV) power systems laboratory module that was developed to experimentally reinforce students' understanding of design principles, operation, and control of photovoltaic power conversion systems. The laboratory module is project-based and is designed to support a renewable energy course. By using MATLAB real-time software tools in combination with digital signal processor (DSP) hardware tools, the module enables students to: 1) design and build dc–dc and dc–ac power converters; 2) design and implement control algorithms for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and voltage and current regulation; and 3) design and fabricate a printed circuit board for voltage and current sensing, isolation, and gate driving. In these hands-on experiments, by designing and building their hardware and software integrated systems themselves, students learn by doing and experience the engineering transformative process of building a product out of an idea. This paper is motivated by the dearth of literature on the application of project-based learning methodology to PV systems. The module description, the pedagogical and evaluation methodologies adopted, and reflections on the implementations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates several traditional startup methods for induction motors. Since a large starting current and a reactive power may lead to a deep voltage drop and cause a potential damage to induction motors and other devices in the same power grid, a novel starting method is proposed for induction motors based on the autotransformer and the magnetically controlled reactor (ATMCR). Then, a reactive power dynamical compensation strategy is developed to improve the power factor and overcome the voltage drop effectively. The main advantage of the proposed approach is that the starting current of induction motors is reduced in the starting period and compensate the reactive power simultaneously. In simulation, a parameter identification method is presented to deal with simulation parameters and the motor's nameplate parameters inconsistencies problem. Finally, simulation and experiment are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to address the issue of keeping the converter operating at a high efficiency level under different conditions, this paper suggests an adaptive step frequency adjustment online optimization search algorithm, which achieves the goal of fast adjustment and real‐time response to parameter changes. The converter is quickly adjusted to operate at a high efficiency by sampling the input and output current values and modulating the switching frequency utilizing the algorithm. Additionally, the algorithm shifts between two working models to finish the search for the best switching frequency while the converter's characteristics do not change. Moreover, it accomplishes the objective of instantly resynchronizing the algorithm after a change in the converter's parameters and starting a search for the best switching frequency in the new converter state. For various input voltages and output loads, the operating principle, optimal frequency, and efficiency are given. In addition, the principle analysis when the converter parameters are changed is provided, and the choice of two algorithm models is compared. Finally, a prototype buck converter with adjustable input voltage and load is constructed to test the algorithm's efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive review that highlights the characteristics of non-isolated step-up converters based on high boost voltage lifting techniques. The paper categorises the high boost techniques: multistage/multilevel, switched capacitor, voltage multiplier, voltage lift, switched inductor and magnetic coupling. The paper also discusses in detail the advantages and disadvantages for each category such as cost, complexity, power density, reliability and efficiency. The number of passive and active components, voltage gain, voltage stress, switching frequency, efficiency and power rating are also compared. Although the paper considers coupling inductors in the context of the non-isolated converter, the focus of the entire article is on the non-isolated high voltage step-up techniques. The key contribution in this paper is the review of high boosting techniques rather than the DC /DC converters. This allows divergence of new ideas and new power converters that will help provide highly efficient and flexible power converters for several applications where the sending end voltage is very low as photovoltaic systems. In addition, many applications and control techniques of DC/DC converters are summarised in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parallelization of power electronic converter units is a way to meet the high current requirements of modern electrification applications. In case of voltage source converters, parallel operation can be attained only if the voltages of all the units are equal. In the current state of the art, this voltage synchronization can be achieved at the fundamental frequency, but not at modulation frequency, hence requiring bulky filters to limit circulating currents; this lowers the system performance in terms of cost, volume, weight and sustainability. In this paper, the authors propose a novel approach to synchronization, acting directly at the modulation frequency level, thus removing the need for any filter. This technique relies on the natural parasitic inductance and resistance of the wiring among parallel units. Specifically, this paper presents the first of two synchronization stages required to reach the sub-nanosecond synchronization necessary to completely remove the filters. At start-up, a low-bandwidth industrial communication line, based on the CAN protocol, is exploited to guarantee that the error in the synchronization of PWM signals among all the parallel units is lower than 0.1%. This limits the initial circulating current, supporting the subsequent control stage that achieves sub-nanosecond synchronization. The proposed concept is validated by experiments using a commercial MCU unit with an unadorned CAN peripheral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new DC-DC converter with large step-down voltage conversion. The proposed converter is obtained by cascading an input circuit of a Quadratic Buck Converter (QBC) to a Tapped Inductor Buck Converter (TIBC). It uses only one active switch and provides a wider voltage conversion range than other well-known step-down converters. In the paper, the operation of the proposed converter is described. Circuit analysis is performed to derive the voltage gain and key current and voltage equations. The prototype circuit operating with the input voltage of 150 V, the output voltage of 5 V, the load current of 10 A and the switching frequency of 100 kHz is implemented. Experimental results show that the prototype converter exhibits good output voltage regulation and achieves the 30-to-1 voltage step-down operation with a maximum efficiency of 82%. In addition, measurement results confirm that the converter operation is consistent with the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a two-stage approach to handle fixed-outline floorplanning for mixed size modules, named F-FM. F-FM combines the advantages of the analytical approach and the slicing tree representation. Thus, it is not only suitable for handling fixed-outline floorplanning but also can be extended to handle other important issues in floorplanning such as routability or thermal effect in addition to wirelength. Recently, low power has become big challenges in very large-scale integration designs, which makes voltage-island driven floorplanning more important than ever. Although the problem has been discussed by previous works, no paper considers signal wirelength, powerplanning, and voltage drop at the same time under the fixed-outline constraint. Thus, this paper extends F-FM to handle this problem and consider these issues by properly dividing modules in a voltage domain into several islands. The experimental results show our approach obtains the best results in these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased drain-induced barrier lowering caused by drain electric flux (or field) passing through the buried-oxide (BOX) layer in silicon-on-insulator (SoI) MOSFETs has been reported as an inherent disadvantage of SoI technology. Part I of this paper discussed derivation of the relationships between coordinates in MOSFETs and potential/stream function in preparation for the modeling of electric flux using conformal mapping in subthreshold regions of ground plane SoI MOSFETs and the validity of the approach was checked via device simulation. Here, in Part II of this paper, we discussed the model’s derivation based on these relationships. The dependences of the flux amount on BOX thickness, BOX permittivity, SoI thickness, and gate length estimated using the model were also discussed in comparison with those estimated via device simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a coupled piezoelectric/semiconducting model is established and applied to study the effect of arbitrarily-located axial mechanical loadings on electric potential distribution in ZnO nanofiber, and the corresponding energy bands are computed via an eight-band k·p method. Results show that the band gap can be tuned by about 25 meV at band edges and about 200 meV away from band edges. The maximum valance band and minimum conduction band are located at band edges. The good mechano-electric effect of piezoelectric semiconductors and the simulating method presented in this paper can be used in designing novel semiconductor devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical equipment of the floating nuclear power plant operates in a long-term vibration environment. Ground faults occur frequently and are often accompanied by arc, a reliable arc suppression algorithm for the generator stator winding is necessary. In this paper, an active arc suppression method is proposed by connecting a controllable voltage source to the generator neutral point. Through regulating the neutral point voltage to be equal in amplitude and opposite in phase to the fault potential, the fault point voltage can be clamped to a low level to achieve arc suppression. Since the generator's phase potential contains certain harmonic components, the controllable voltage source includes fundamental and third-order harmonic components. To accurately calculate the output voltage, online calculation methods for the fault location, fault potential and grounding capacitance are proposed. The accuracy of the fault location method is verified by simulation and dynamic test. And simulation results based on PSCAD/EMTDC software show that the proposed method can achieve effective arc suppression at different ground fault conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct lightning poses a serious threat to the safety of power systems. In recent years, the lightning fractal model, which can reflect the fractal characteristics and randomness of lightning leaders, has been gradually applied to direct lightning protection for substations, transmission lines, etc. However, since few studies have linked simulations with experiments, the reliability of the lightning fractal model in terms of attachment probability prediction lacks experimental verification. In this paper, a series of attachment tests are carried out under a rod-rod gap. The equivalence between simulation tests and natural lightning is discussed, and the influencing factors of the attachment results are investigated. The attachment probability is simulated and compared to the test value under each test configuration. The test results show that the fractal dimension of discharge channel is consistent with the observation results of natural lightning. Under different configurations, the test value of attachment probability basically conforms to the simulation value. In general, the dispersion of the test results is slightly greater than the simulation results, but the average probability differences are all within 10%. The test results strongly indicate that the lightning fractal model is of good reliability in the prediction of strike probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative-sequence current is required to be intentionally injected to support the power grid or compensate the imbalanced load in asymmetrical faults utilizing STATCOM. However, the extreme compensation range of negative-sequence current injection becomes complicated when grid voltage becomes asymmetrical. This article presents a novel off-line strategy for negative-sequence current compensation under two typical kinds of asymmetrical grid faults — single-phase voltage drop and double-phase voltage drop, with the following two benefits simultaneously: maximizing negative current compensation capacity; avoiding iterations and reducing computation burdens. In this paper, the mechanism of DC voltage balancing among three phases in STATCOM is analyzed and a new identification method of negative-sequence current compensation range is explored out. To simplify the calculation, this paper takes the ratio of negative-sequence reactive (Iq-) and active (Id-) current as a variable (s). In this way, the relationship between the extreme compensation range, asymmetrical voltage sag depth of power grid h is drawn with MATLAB. Different from the previous iterative method, the off-line identification method is applied to avoid huge iterations. By fitting the curve, the precise ranges of negative-sequence current compensation under different asymmetrical grid faults are approximated as simple polynomials, thus significantly reducing the computation burdens. Simulation and experimental results verify the practicability of the proposed compensation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase–locked loop (PLL) is commonly used for the grid-connected voltage-source converter (VSC) to synchronize with the grid. Under weak grid conditions, it has been found that the frequency-dependent characteristic of the network impedance inherently introduces a positive feedback loop into PLL. Previous studies focused on the PLL analysis intuitively believe that the positive feedback loop will deteriorate the dynamic performance of the PLL. However, this conclusion is not rigorous since only the dynamic of the PLL is considered and the theoretical analysis is insufficiency to reveal the influence of the positive feedback loop on system stability. In this paper, the impact of the frequency-dependent network on VSC stability is quantified in terms of the overall system based on the damping torque analysis. It is found that the influence of the positive feedback loop on stability depends on the parameters of the PLL and the damping of the dominant eigenvalues. Besides, an angular frequency feedback scheme is proposed to eliminate the adverse effect of the frequency-dependent network and enhance the stability of the VSC under weak grid conditions. Time-domain numerical simulations and reduced-scale experiments are performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the induced voltage measured at the terminal of a 10 kV distribution line when triggered lightning taking place at a distance of 40 m. It is shown that the induced voltage waveforms exhibit three components including a slow increase preceding the initial negative peak, following a rapid polarity reversal and the attenuated oscillations. The waveform parameters are defined in this paper. The observed negative peak value ranges from −47.1 kV to −7.5 kV. The positive peak value ranges from 5.3 kV to 20.9 kV, and the peak to peak value ranges from 12.8 kV to 63.2 kV. The test results show that the negative peak value of the induced voltage at the terminal of distribution generated by nearby negative triggered lightning generally exceeds the positive peak value, and in some cases the negative peak value even reaches twice the positive peak value. The negative 10%-90% rise time ranges from 2.3 μs to 88.5 μs, and the average oscillation period is about 18 μs. Both negative and positive peaks of induced voltages show good linear relationship with the peaks of lightning return stroke current. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Point-on-wave (POW) is a single-event characteristic of voltage dips, influencing the performance of sensitive equipment, such as AC contactor and wind turbines. However, definition and calculation of POW are unsolved issues. The existing definition of POW is for single-phase dips; it does not consider three-phase dips. Moreover, existing POW calculation methods are inaccurate. This paper proposes a definition of POW as a single-event characteristic for three-phase voltage dips. Then, it proposes a POW calculation method based on space vector, including POW detection and angle calculation. The proposed method is based on the ellipse characteristics during the dip-stage and non-dip stage. The proposed method does not depend on zero crossing for angle reference. To verify the performance of the proposed method, a power-system simulation model is built to generate voltage dips with different origin. Furthermore, the accuracy of the proposed method is verified by 425 sets measured voltage dips, and compared with the published methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a simple device under electrostatic discharge (ESD)event is considered. This work presents a simple experimental and simulated setup to measure ESD‐induced voltage to trace on a printed circuit board (PCB) when ESD current is injected directly onto the lumped element. Based on an ESD immunity test platform and ESD full‐wave model, the waveform of coupling voltage, which induced on a PCB, are measured at different discharging position. The voltage waveform of resistor on PCB with chip and without chip are compared to analyze the difference in two cases. The paper proposes a method that compares the measured results of experiment with simulation of full‐wave model. It is found that the results of simulation and experiment is in good match on the whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a rotor current fault monitoring method is proposed based on a slid- ing mode observer. Firstly, the state-space model of the Double-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) is constructed by vector transformation. Meanwhile, the stator voltage orientation vector control method is applied to decouple a stator and rotor currents, so as to obtain the correlation between the stator and rotor current. Furthermore, the mathematical model of stator voltage orientation is obtained. Then a state sliding mode observer (SMO) is established for the output current of the rotor of the DFIG. The stability and reachability of the system in a limited time is proved. Finally, the system state is determined by the residuals of the measured and estimated rotor currents. The simulation results show that the method proposed in this paper can effectively monitor the status: a normal state, voltage drop faults, short-circuit faults between windings, and rotor current sensor faults which have the advantages of fast response, high stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an on-going need for faster, more accurate, and easier to implement threat identification systems for concealed electronics, to thwart terrorism and espionage attempts. Common electronics are used in the design of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), targeting military, and civilian populations, while concealed recording devices steal proprietary/confidential data, compromising both government and industrial resources. This paper discusses a novel, nonintrusive, repeatable, reliable, expandable, and simple-to-implement detection and identification (D&I) system for identifying threats by using unintended radiated emissions (URE). This paper differs from current URE proposals, by avoiding energy radiation. The proposed process also addresses big data problems involved in capturing and building databases of URE characteristics. Issue interpretation is utilized with URE data to distinguish between threat/nonthreat devices using multiple criteria decision analysis and other decision-making techniques to determine model and mode of hidden devices. System optimization, verified by testing, is used to improve the speed and accuracy of the identification algorithm. The system is developed with data from 130 devices and validated with 33 separate devices, which are representative of IED and espionage threats. Due to slow progress in the URE D&I field, the properties and potential of a more effective D&I system, compared to current methods, will be of interest to the explosive ordnance disposal, security services, electronic systems manufacturing, automated inventory, mobile application development communities, and potentially others as well. For a field that is not well documented, this paper provides a clear, concise, and detailed model for future research and applications of URE D&I. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DC shipboard power systems have been considered as a promising solution for stricter environmental regulations on ships due to their main benefits in fuel savings with variable speed engines and easy integration of energy storage systems. In order to employ the dc solution in the shipboard power systems, the dc power systems have to be protected from a system fault with protection selectivity to minimize impacts of the fault or to avoid other undesirable situations in the system. For low-voltage dc shipboard power systems, a three-level protection has been proposed: 1) fast action (first)—bus separation by solid-state dc bus-tie switch; 2) medium action (second)—feeder protection by high-speed fuse; and 3) slow action (third)—generator–rectifier fault controls. This paper proposes a new method by means of additional bus capacitance added in main dc buses to help reliable operation of the three-level protection. The principle of the proposed method is introduced and the sizing of the additional bus capacitance is addressed in this paper. With the modeling of the dc shipboard power systems, the analyses of voltage drops for the bus separation failure and fault clearing time for the feeder protection are carried out to verify the proposed method. The results show that the proposed method not only mitigates the voltage drop for the bus separation failure, but also achieves the selectivity and the sensitivity for the feeder protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ion-flow field is very important for the design of an HVDC transmission line. Due to the space ions resulting from corona discharge, there are few practical methods to measure the space electric fields around HVDC transmission lines. In this paper, a compensation method is presented to measure the space potential in the ion-flow field. The space potential can be obtained by applying an adjustable voltage source to a suspended conductor, increasing the voltage step-by-step and measuring the current flowing through the voltage source or the ground-level ion current density under the suspended conductor. When the current is equal to zero or the ground-level ion current density is equal to that without the suspended conductor, the output voltage of the voltage source is the space potential to be measured. The paper first introduces the principle of the measurement method. Then, the feasibility of the method is testified on unipolar and bipolar reduced-scale models. Finally, the measured results are discussed and are compared with the results by the numerical method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of power systems voltage stability is considered an important assignment for the operation and planning of power system. In this paper, a voltage stability study using Continuous Power Flow (CPF) is introduced to evaluate the impact of Distribution Generator (DG) on radial distribution systems. On the way to allocate the DG, a hybrid between the Voltage Stability Index (VSI) and Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) is developed. The main purpose of using VSI is to find the most sensitive buses for allocating the DG in the system. Hence, Fuzzy logic control with the Normalized VSI (NVSI) and the voltage magnitude at each bus are used to determine the candidate buses. However, the best DG size is calculated using WOA. Four standard radial distribution systems are used in this paper; 12, 33, 69, and 85-bus. The developed hybrid optimization method is compared with other existing analytical and metaheuristic optimization techniques to prove its efficiency. The results prove the ability of the developed method in the allocation of DG. In addition, the influence of the DG integration on enhancing the voltage stability through injecting the proper active and reactive powers is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First harmonic analysis (FHA) is arguably the most widely used analytical technique for wireless power transfer (WPT) circuits due to its simplicity. Although FHA can provide closed-form solutions, the existence of rectifier diode forward voltage drop and higher order harmonics, especially the second and third harmonics at variable duty cycle operation, can significantly deteriorate its accuracy. This paper presents an accurate and efficient method called enhanced multiple harmonic analysis (eMHA) for the optimal design and optimal control of WPT systems. The eMHA method considers the nature of nonlinear rectification networks under nonsinusoidal current and reexamines the concept of the equivalent load. As a result, the rectified WPT system is transformed into a series of linear systems with complex load impedances. The steady-state electric quantities can be then explicitly calculated. This enables eMHA to seamlessly work with numerical optimization algorithms to facilitate the automated design and optimization of WPT systems. An example of optimal design and optimal control of a 10 W WPT system is demonstrated. The results obtained by eMHA and FHA are also compared. A prototype of the designed circuit was constructed. The accuracy and effectiveness of eMHA are verified by experimental measurements. This paper is accompanied by a MATLAB-based analytical tool with a graphical user interface demonstrating the effects of circuit variables on electrical quantities and waveforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]