Investigation of failure patterns of desktop computer power supplies using a lightning surge simulator and the generation of a database for a comprehensive surge propagation study

According to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) future VLSI devices of gigahertz capability are expected to have feature sizes below 45 nm with DC power supply requirements with sub 1V and the equivalent noise voltages close to the DC rail values. This scenario makes the surge resist capability of processor type loads and the associated power conversion interfaces with lot of power semiconductors, seriously vulnerable to lightning and other power transients. In a major research project to predict the propagation of transients within the power conversion interfaces using wavelet transform, it was necessary to develop an experimental database of surge failures in power electronic subsystems. This paper highlights the results of destructive testing of desk top PC power supplies using a lightning surge simulator which will be used for comparing experimental data with analytical/simulated results.