Optimization of a 1 kW resonant converter operating at 2.5 MHz driving an inductively coupled plasma lamp

Inhalt:
When designing a resonant power converter operating in the MHz range, several design parameters, as for example the exact operating frequency, the DC voltage, the snubber capacitance and the complete design of the resonant tank and matching network must be defined. In this work, we investigate the impact of those parameters on the power losses of a MHz inverter. Through circuit and FEM simulations we obtain a model of the losses of each component. Then measurements on a working system are contrasted with these, as for facing the problem of determining the parameter selection that gives the highest achievable efficiency. The results highlight the limiting factors of further efficiency improvement and provide a modeling approach of the whole optimization problem, which could be easily applicable to similar converters.