The IHTS: A new building block for power conditioners

USAMERDCs development efforts have been directed toward compact and efficient power supplies in order to cut the weight and bulk of power conditioning equipment presently used. In this effort, weight reduction has been achieved at the cost of considerable equipment complexity and possible difficulties concerning field serviceability by semi-skilled personnel. This complexity is mainly due to the restrictions imposed upon the designer by the performance capabilities of the currently available solid state power switches. To overcome these restrictions, this Center developed a new solid state switch concept, commonly referred to as the Integrated Hybrid Transistor Switch or IHTS. (1) The IHTS is a high performance switch of the transistor family except that the device is internally protected from the most common equipment failure modes. This simplifies the construction of formerly complex equipment functions. In the foreseeable future, precision power conditioners may eventually contain only interchangeable IHTS modules. Component reductions makes practical many power conditioner equipment applications heretofore considered economically not feasible. The universal utility of the IHTS to equipment design and the device´s contribution to the simplicity of equipment construction detail gives rise to the expectation that the component is attractive for usage in commercial applications with a consequent reduction of cost. It is against this background that the paper describes the IHTS and some of the newly provided alternatives to the Army in the area of high KVA/lb/Dollar power conditioners.