sis 9 Resonant Converters 9.4 Class E Resonant Converters “The basic circuit isthe class F resonant inverter (Fig. 9.24), It consists ofa switch, a parallel capacitor Ci, a series resonant circuit L,, Cx an input choke Ly. and an output load Ry. Instead of an MOS transistor, the switch may be a bipolar transistor ora thyristor. By turning the switch on an off, the oscillation conditions ae created for the oscillatory circuit which result in an slmost harmonic curent through the load. In addition to the very simple topology the efficiency ofthis inverter is very high, up to 96 %. Therefore, it is correct to say that the inverter in Fig. 9.24 is among the most efficient inverters developed so far. ‘The inductance of the input choke should be sufficiently high so that the vari ations of the curent through it are negligible. In that case the input with Ve and Ly can be considered a current source lnc. While the resonant circuit L-C, gives & harmonic current through the load, the capacitor C, provides optimam conditions for the change of state of the switch from the point of view of the minimum dynamic losses. [A class E resonant inverter operates ata frequency somewhat higher than the resonant frequency op = IAL,C,). When the transistor is on, it makes a short circuit for eapacitor C, (Fig. 9.256), so Vos = 0 and ins = ip — i. Since C, is discharged, ze voltage conditions for turning off of the transistor are ensured Unit the curtent through the transistor drops to zero, the Variation of the voltage across Cy is small and the dynamic losses during the tn off are negligible. ‘The equivalent circuit of the converter while the transistor is off is shown in Fig. 9.25. The current through capacitor Cy is Vos ic = Moc + io = CG (9.45) + 7 (9.45) At the instant the transistor is turned on, it takes over the current of the capacitor C). Consequently, the zero voltage and zero current conditions during the tum on are obtained if Vos} 0 (0.46) AVps/At, = dVc1 [dts (0.47) R Fig, 9.24 The basic cseit ofthe class E inverter94 Class E Resonant Converers 519 (@) Yes | ‘ossinsnl — | | [Mon [Mer | i icy =Inc io ) © Fig. 9.28 ‘The waveform of the class inverter atthe optimum operating conditions (a) and the csivalentcieuits when the transistor ison (b) snd when it iso €) because at dv/di = 0 the current through C, is equal to zero. The beginning of the cycle of conduction ofthe transistor M is denoted by g. Equations (9.46) and (9.47) are the conditions for the optimum operation of the class E inverters when the dynamic losses are negligible. The optimum conditions, atthe duty cycle of the pulses controlling the transistor D = 0.5, may be expressed in the following way 8 Vee Ria peg tien ostee Be (a8) 8 0.1836 HET RRO ~ Rio” o*) 1, = ORi/e (050) 520 9 Resonant Converters (9.51)520 9 Resonant Converters 1 1 os C= Nan (= TIS25)Rie 31) ‘where Pp isthe input power and Q is the quality factor ofthe resonant circuit L,,C, and R;. The minimum inductance of the choke, which ensures that the ripple of the input current is below 10 %, when the above conditions are still valid, is Lan sea = TRi/f. (052) The optimum mode of operation, therefor, is dependent on the load. Matching techniques exist that reduce this dependence, It should be emphasized that the optimum conditions are different for D # 0.5. The nearly harmonic form of the ‘output current is obtained if the Q factor is greater than 7 (Q > 7). The output voltage is changed by a small variation of the frequency. By inereasing the com- mutation frequeney, iff > fi = W2n(L,C,), the output current and voltage are reduced. Except in optimum conditions, a class E inverter may also operate in subopti- mum or nonoptimum conditions, which arise when the load is variable. If R., < Riaye (948), the voltage across the capacitor will each zero value with a negative slope (dv/dr < 0) so that its current is icy = C\dveldr < 0. Therefore, the first optimum mode condition (9.46) is met, but the second (9.47) is not. However, then the antiparallel diode will turn on and keep a zero voltage across the switch (Fig, 9.26). The transistor will tum on again at Vos = 0. The function of this diode can be carried out by the intemal p-n junction substrate-drain of the MOS transistor. This isthe suboptimum mode The nonoptimum mode arises when Ry, > Rioy- Then, none ofthe two optimum mode conditions is met. The transistor will be tuned on at a positive voltage (ps > 0) which will increase dynamic losses. This mode should be avoided. The advantages of class E resonant inverters isthe circuit simplicity (single- transistor structure), high efficiency (up to 96 %), and an almost harmonic load current resulting in negligible EMI. The operating frequency may be several MHz Its limited by the input capacitance of the MOS transistor and is approximately Jiu * 0.2N2RCpssR). By applying the corresponding matching circuit the optimum oF suboptimum mode of operation can be accomplished for an atbtrary load. {A drawback ofthe class E inverters are quite high amplitudes ofthe current and voltage of the switch which may amount up to several times the corresponding input DC values Voc and foc. Consequently, their application is restricted to the circuits having low voltages of the primary source Vip. ‘Adding a rectifier to the output ofa clas E inverter results in a resonant DC/DC converter. The rectifier could be a standard half-wave or full-wave rectifier. The rectifier of the DC/DC converter in Fig. 9.27 is also a class E, The switching losses