Composites of Phase Change Dielectrics and Glass-ceramic for High Power Density Capacitors

Improved capacitor technologies are required for future power electronics and pulsed power systems being considered by the Navy as part of the All Electric Ship initiative. Using a single electrical generation system to supply power to both drive and auxiliary ship systems will enable much more efficient use of power, allow for damage tolerant distributed power systems, and provide high energy pulsed power delivery to electromagnetic weapons and electromagnetic aircraft launchers. The key components to these systems are power electronic building blocks (AC/DC and DC/DC converters) and pulse forming networks. In both systems, capacitors are critical components in terms of volume and weight. Reducing the size of these systems requires capacitors with much higher energy density than conventional polymer film (1 - 2 J/cc) and ceramic capacitors (0.1 J/cc). In the Phase I program TRS Technologies and the Pennsylvania State University demonstrated composite dielectrics of glass and antiferroelectric (AFE) ceramic with reliable energy densities in excess of 10 J/cc. For the proposed Phase II program, TRS will lead a team to develop large glass-AFE composite capacitors for use as DC bus, decoupling, circuit protection (voltage clamping), and snubber capacitors in 100 kW, 5 kHz power control modules such as DC/DC converters.