Zheyu Zhang
Clemson University
Solar-powered systems for lunar missions must tolerate and operate in the extreme cold of the lunar night. To ensure efficient and reliable energy conversion and control, power regulators and breakers are crucial, and their survivability at cryogenic temperatures is essential. At the heart of the power regulator and circuit breaker reside power semiconductors and corresponding power electronics technology. The fundamental research goal of the project is to holistically characterize and model target wide bandgap gallium nitride (GaN) transistors in a wide temperature range; and to develop power regulation and solid-state protection techniques empowered by such cryogenic devices in lightweight, fault-tolerant solar-powered systems for lunar missions.