High speed cascode flyback converter using multilayered coreless printed circuit board (PCB) step-down power transformer

In this paper, design and analysis of the high speed isolated cascode flyback converter using multilayered coreless PCB step down power transformer is presented. The converter is tested for the input voltage variation of 60-120V with a nominal DC input voltage of 90V. The designed converter was simulated and tested successfully up to the output power level of 30W within the switching frequency range of 2.6-3.7MHz. The cascode flyback converter is compared with the single switch flyback converter in terms of operating frequency, gate drive power consumption, conduction losses and stresses on MOSFETs. The maximum energy efficiency of the cascode converter is approximately 81% with a significant improvement of about 3-4% compared to single switch flyback converter. The gate drive power consumption which is more dominant compared to conduction losses of the cascode converter using GaN MOSFET is found to be negligible compared to single switch flyback converter.