STTR Phase II: Low Temperature Cofired Multilayer Ceramic Power Transformers Incorporating Base Metallization Materials

该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是在通信、互联网、便携式电子和电力电子领域的广泛电子产品。虽然磁基变压器已经成为一个多世纪以来的行业标准，但它们有许多缺点，包括小型化困难，电磁干扰问题以及较大电压升压应用的问题。这项研究的主要目标是开发一种磁性变压器的陶瓷替代品，既有利于小型化，又能提供更高的功率密度，大大提高安全工作温度，而且与标准磁性设备相比，在成本上具有竞争力。这项技术将为许多应用提供重要的优势；低成本生产的能力也打开了传统磁性不容易进入的巨大新市场。这个小型企业技术转移（STTR）第二阶段项目旨在开发新的低温烧结工艺和变压器结构，使贱金属电极的使用能够取代非常昂贵的铂。这大大降低了陶瓷变压器的成本，并大大提高了性能，因为一个糟糕的电/热导体，铂，现在被贱金属（铜）取代，这是一个高性能的电/热导体。这意味着在重量更轻、外形更低的器件中具有更高的功率吞吐量，并且现在具有与宽带隙功率器件的高温范围相匹配的新能力。该计划的成功立即导致了革命性的下一步，即能够在集成电路中直接插入电源管理/转换电子器件，例如特定应用集成电路（ASIC）和现场可编程门阵列（FPGA）。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to a wide range of electronics in the areas of communications, Internet, portable electronics, and power electronics. Although magnetic based transformers have been the industry standard for over a century they have many negatives including miniaturization difficulties, electromagnetic interference issues, and issues with larger voltage step-up applications. The main goal of the research is to develop a ceramic replacement for magnetic transformers that is both conducive to miniaturization, provides higher power densities, provides a large increase in safe operating temperatures, and that is cost competitive with standard magnetic devices. This technology will provide important advantages for many applications; the ability to produce at low cost also opens up large new markets that are not easily reached using conventional magnetics.This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase 2 project aims to develop new low temperature sintering processes and transformer structures that enable the use of base metal electrodes to replace very expensive platinum. This drastically reduces costs of ceramic transformers and substantially improves performance due to the fact that a poor electrical/thermal conductor, Platinum, is now replaced with base metal (Copper) that is a high performance electrical/thermal conductor. This translates into both higher power throughput in devices that are lighter weight and lower profile and also a new ability to now match the high temperature range of wide bandgap power devices. The success of this program immediately leads to a revolutionary next step of being able to insert power management/conversion electronics directly within integrated circuits such as in application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGA).