Opportunities, Progress, and Challenges in Piezoelectric-Based Power Electronics

This paper describes emerging approaches in the design of power electronics aiming to address twin challenges miniaturization and efficiency through use piezoelectric-based energy storage elements. Piezoelectric components, including piezoelectric resonators transformers, store mechanical inertia compliance, with densities that are orders magnitude higher than those achievable magnetics at small scales. Piezoelectrics can potentially enable radical improvements size converters for some applications, but advances circuits, controls, passive component design, packaging required fully realize these benefits. We present an overview opportunities, recent progress, electronics, provide supporting examples illustrate their promise.