High Voltage Power Supply Using Segmented Stages
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High-voltage power supplies lack the ability to controllably change output voltage to manage waveform effectively, which is crucial for applications like ion implantation, plasma treatment, and medical imagery, where precise voltage control is necessary.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising multiple power stages and a controller that selectively operates these stages to adjust output voltage, allowing for incremental voltage changes up to several kilovolts or megavolts, with each stage configured to output specific voltages and controlled by drivers and a storage unit with instructions for arbitrary or sequenced operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If high-voltage power supplies use fixed voltage output stages, then the system structure is simple, but the ability to controllably change output voltage is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The power supply is divided into multiple discrete power stages, each capable of being independently activated or deactivated. This segmentation allows the system to output different voltage levels by selectively combining stages, providing controllable voltage adjustment while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The power supply transitions from a fixed voltage output design to a dynamic configuration where power stages can be selectively enabled or disabled based on control signals. This dynamic capability allows the system to adapt output voltage to different application requirements without requiring complete redesign of the power supply architecture.
2Measurement precision
If multiple power stages are used to achieve precise voltage control, then voltage controllability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the total voltage output into discrete segments (power stages), the system achieves precise voltage control through selective combination of these segments. Each stage represents a controllable voltage increment, allowing fine-grained adjustment of the total output voltage while keeping the number of stages manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple power stages are combined in a modular architecture where they can be activated together to achieve higher voltages or selected individually for finer voltage steps. This merging approach allows the system to achieve high precision voltage control without requiring an excessive number of separate power supply units.
3Adaptability or versatility
If power stages are selectively activated to control voltage, then waveform control is improved, but the control system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system dynamically activates or deactivates specific power stages based on the desired waveform characteristics. By selectively enabling stages during different portions of the waveform cycle, the system achieves waveform control without requiring a completely complex control architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system uses periodic activation patterns of power stages to generate controlled waveforms. By switching stages on and off in specific sequences during each waveform period, the system achieves waveform shaping while maintaining a relatively simple control logic based on repetitive patterns.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods presented herein generally provide for the controlled voltage of electrical energy through the selected operation of power stages. Generally, a system that provides electrical energy includes a power supply and up to 20 power stages coupled to the power supply such that the system may output up to 72 kV in 3.6 kV increments. By selecting the number of power stages which are turned on at a given time the total voltage of the electrical energy is controlled at that time. The use of air core magnetic flux coupling provides a unique, easily insulated method to provide power to the voltage stages at different potentials relative to each other. The system may further include one or more controllers coupled to the power stages to control selection of the power stages and thereby vary the output voltage.