Ultrawide Bandgap AlGaN Power Electronics - Transforming Solid-State Circuit Breakers (ULTRAlGaN)

超宽带隙 AlGaN 电力电子 - 改造固态断路器 (ULTRAlGaN)

• 批准号: EP/X035360/1
• 负责人: Martin Kuball
• 金额: $ 678.7万
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX035360%2F1
• 关键词: Ultrawide; Bandgap; AlGaN; Power; Electronics

There is an urgent need for new power electronic technologies to underpin the transition to net zero. The imminent risks for our planet have been highlighted by UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calling our current status 'code red' for human driven global heating in its scientific report published in 2021. Deploying power electronics in renewable generation systems enables smart control of grid networks and efficient energy utilization. This is also true of transportation, which in turn will support a dramatic reduction of the 72% of global primary energy consumption currently wasted world-wide.In this programme grant (PG), we develop a transformative next generation of Aluminium Gallium Nitride (AlGaN) Solid-State Circuit Breakers (SSCBs), with greatly improved efficiency and greater voltage range, to many kVs, enabling anticipated global energy savings >20% compared to continuing with current technologies. Circuit breakers are critical components for safe, reliable electrical power systems, including for power-electronics-dense grids, but a step-change in performance is needed. According to the major power electronics company ABB / Hitachi Energy, SSCBs are 'the weakest link in next-generation electricity infrastructure'. The slow response time of existing mechanical circuit breakers available on the market risks damaging sensitive equipment. The alternative use of Silicon (Si) - based SSCBs, although providing superior switching speed (<1 microseconds) versus mechanical circuit breakers (>100 microseconds), and offering the fast circuit protection critically needed for high-performance power distribution, presently suffer from high conduction losses and are often limited at best to 4-5 kV safe operation for a single chip. Higher voltage ranges are required in increasingly more complex and varied application areas including electric planes and ships. For example, Si-based SSCB inefficiencies would contribute up to an additional 600 Mtons of CO2 emissions per year if implemented in the global cruise liner industry alone.The vision and ambition is to address current roadblocks in power electronics by developing new SSCBs. The limitations in existing technologies can be largely eliminated using ultrawide bandgap AlGaN SSCBs, which conservatively have a 100x improvement in efficiency compared to existing commercial high-voltage devices such as Si insulated-gate bipolar transistors and Silicon Carbide (SiC) metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors, to enable efficient, compact SSCBs with minimal cooling requirements. In 20 years, it is expected that these highly efficient ultrawide bandgap AlGaN power electronic components will have displaced all other technologies such as Si and SiC for high-current high-voltage uses, e.g. in power distribution and transportation such as in trains, maritime and planes, helping enable a carbon neutral society. The underlying physical reason for the great benefit of using AlGaN is its much greater bandgap (up to 6.2 eV) compared to Si (1.1 eV) and SiC (3.2 eV). The commonly used power electronics Baliga Figure of Merit, i.e. the suitability of a material for power electronics, of AlGaN is nearly 1,800 compared to 1 for Si and 340 for SiC, enabling a revolution in what power electronics will be able to deliver.Many interlinked technological challenges need to be addressed, including AlGaN materials growth, and methods to enable large enough layer thicknesses, alongside the development and fabrication of new device concepts to achieve high performance and reliable AlGaN SSCBs. The PG will be driven by the realization of transformative device prototypes, with ever increasing complexity, challenge and innovation during the course of the PG, ultimately driving UK research in this area towards end-application prototypes. The high-power application space is huge, and developments will be steered by involving end-users in a co-creation role for the SSCB prototypes.

迫切需要新的电力电子技术来支持向净零过渡。联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会在其2021年发表的科学报告中强调了我们星球面临的迫在眉睫的风险，称我们目前的状况是人为全球变暖的“红色代码”。在可再生能源发电系统中部署电力电子技术可以实现电网的智能控制和高效的能源利用。交通运输也是如此，这反过来将支持大幅减少目前全球浪费的72%的全球一次能源消耗。在这项计划资助（PG）中，我们开发了一种变革性的下一代氮化铝镓（AlGaN）固态断路器（SSCB），其效率大大提高，电压范围更大，可达许多kV，与继续使用现有技术相比，实现了预期的全球节能>20%。断路器是安全、可靠的电力系统的关键部件，包括电力电子密集型电网，但需要在性能上进行阶跃式改变。根据大型电力电子公司ABB /日立能源的说法，SSCB是“下一代电力基础设施中最薄弱的环节”。市场上现有的机械断路器响应时间慢，有损坏敏感设备的风险。硅（Si）基SSCB的替代使用虽然提供了相对于机械断路器（>100微秒）的上级开关速度（<1微秒），并且提供了高性能配电所迫切需要的快速电路保护，但是目前遭受高传导损耗，并且对于单个芯片通常最多限于4-5 kV的安全操作。在包括电动飞机和船舶在内的越来越复杂和多样化的应用领域中，需要更高的电压范围。例如，如果仅在全球邮轮行业实施，硅基SSCB的低效率每年将增加高达6亿吨的二氧化碳排放量。我们的愿景和目标是通过开发新的SSCB来解决电力电子领域目前的障碍。使用超宽带隙AlGaN SSCB可以在很大程度上消除现有技术中的限制，与现有的商业高压器件（例如Si绝缘栅双极晶体管和碳化硅（SiC）金属氧化物半导体场效应晶体管）相比，超宽带隙AlGaN SSCB保守地具有100倍的效率提高，以实现具有最小冷却要求的高效、紧凑的SSCB。预计在20年内，这些高效的超宽带隙AlGaN电力电子元件将取代所有其他技术，如Si和SiC，用于大电流高压用途，例如在火车，海上和飞机等配电和运输中，帮助实现碳中和社会。使用AlGaN的巨大益处的潜在物理原因是其与Si（1.1 eV）和SiC（3.2 eV）相比大得多的带隙（高达6.2 eV）。AlGaN的Baliga品质因数（Baliga Figure of Merit）（即适用于电力电子的材料）接近1，800，而Si为1，SiC为340，这使得电力电子能够实现革命。需要解决许多相互关联的技术挑战，包括AlGaN材料的生长，以及实现足够大的层厚度的方法，同时开发和制造新的器件概念，以实现高性能和可靠的AlGaN SSCB。PG将由变革性设备原型的实现驱动，在PG过程中不断增加的复杂性，挑战和创新，最终推动英国在该领域的研究走向终端应用原型。高功率应用空间巨大，将通过让最终用户参与SSCB原型的共同创建来引导开发。