In this SBIR project, APEI, Inc. is proposing to develop a high efficiency, rad-hard 3.8 kW silicon carbide (SiC) power supply for the Power Processing Unit (PPU) of Hall Effect thrusters. This program specifically targets the design of a PPU for the HiVHAC (High Voltage Hall ACcelerator) thruster, with target specifications of 80-160V input, 200-700V / 5A output, efficiency greater than 96%, and peak power density in excess of 2.5 kW/kg. The PPU under development utilizes SiC JFET power switches; components which APEI, Inc. has irradiated under TID conditions to greater than 3 MRad with little to zero change in device performance.
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