Magnetoelectric Voltage Tunable Inductors for Power Electronics Applications

Magnetoelectric voltage tunable inductors (ME VTI) are unique devices that operate on the principle of ferroelectric coupling between a piezoelectric material and a magnetostrictive soft magnetic material. Previous work on ME VTIs has focused only on attaining high inductance tunability using very small prototype devices. Operational principles are discussed and ME VTI configurations which are suitable for scale-up to useful inductors are identified. One ME VTI of each type is constructed and exhibits 29% and 113% inductance tunability respectively. Operational limitations with respect to rapid tuning are derived and evaluated for feasibility in real power electronic systems. Finally, ME VTI use in a dual active bridge converter application is discussed.