ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief overview of several techniques for constructing low-voltage power electronics for extreme environment applications. It examines the extreme environment performance of industry’s technology workhorse for building low-voltage power electronics (BCDMOS). Because some limitations were found with BCDMOS technology, the chapter shows that alternative complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication technologies are suitable for extreme environment applications and can also be used to for low-voltage power applications. It suggests that the use of LDMOS transistors can enhance the applications of these technologies for power electronics. The chapter demonstrates the successful operation under extreme conditions of several design examples built with CMOS, CMOS-SOI, and SiGe technologies. It presents an alternative technique for building low-voltage power electronics, which takes advantage of built-in performance margin of commercial off-the-shelf components for building extreme environment–capable power electronic circuit.
