Feasible Evaluations of Low Profile Magnetic Structure Based on Meander Winding and Split-Magnetic Cores with High-Cooling Capability Used in Power Converters

It is well-known that wide-bandgap power semiconductor devices such as GaN and SiC have attractive features such as low on-resistance and capability of high switching speed, which results in realizing high power density converters. Therefore, power converters using GaN (Gallium Nitride) or SiC (Silicon Carbide) power devices have usually high efficiency, smaller passive components can be adopted than Si-based power converters by driving the converter at high switching frequency. However, driving at high switching frequency may result in a temperature rise of magnetic components, which can be one of the critical issues due to a downsized small surface area of magnetic cores and increasing power loss density per unit volume. Therefore, this paper proposes and evaluates a low-profile magnetic structure based on split-magnetic cores and meander winding capable of high cooling performance. The effectiveness of the proposed magnetic structure used in power converters is confirmed by experimental tests.