Sneak Circuits of Power Electronic Converters

Chapter 2Sneak Circuits of Resonant Switched Capacitor Converters

2.1 Introduction

The switched capacitor (SC) converters are one kind of power electronic converters that do not require any inductor or transformer, only using capacitors as the energy storage components [1, 2]. With the advantages of small volume, low weight, high efficiency, and easy integration, SC converters can adapt to the developing trend of power electronics. However, the SC converter has inherent disadvantages of high current stress and EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) problem [3, 4]. In order to improve the performance of SC converters, a new topology named the resonant switched capacitor (RSC) converter has been proposed, in which an inductor is added in series with the SC [5, 6]. The inserted inductor is very small, mainly used to make up an LC resonant tank with the SC and realize zero-current switching (ZCS) for all switches. Thus, the power dissipation and EMI will be reduced and the advantages of the SC converter will be kept in RSC converters.

Compared with the SC converter, only one component is added in the RSC converter, but it is found that some new circuit paths (i.e., sneak circuits) do exist in RSC converters [7]. In this chapter, different types of sneak circuit phenomena in RSC converters will be introduced and the operating conditions of a sneak circuit will be described in detail.

2.2 Sneak Circuits of Basic RSC Converter

The elementary unit of a RSC converter is composed of two ...