Review of power electronics converters and associated components/systems at cryogenic temperatures

Increasing trends towards electrified transportation and future deep space missions target extremely low environmental operating temperatures of aircraft and spacecraft. For such applications, advantages associated with low temperature operation of power electronics converters, superconducting machines, energy storage devices, and current leads can significantly help improve the efficiency and density of integrated power conversion systems. Power electronics converters, being an integral part of such a conversion system, offer reduced losses, better switching speeds, and lesser size and weight. Similarly, superconducting machines are lighter and are more efficient at such temperatures. Owing to the improved performance of cryogenic power conversion systems compared to room temperature (RT) operation, a detailed review of low operating temperature power electronics converters and their constituent components including semiconductor devices, passive components, and superconducting machines is presented in this paper.