Hello. My name is Guu.
The other day we studied the principle of a voltage booster circuit using a coil, and in the course of that study, a further question arose.
That is, "How high can voltage be raised using a voltage multiplier circuit?" That is, "How high can the voltage be raised using a voltage multiplier circuit?
If a low input voltage can be made as high as it can go, doesn't that sound like a good deal?
In this article, we will focus on the question, "What does it mean to make the voltage higher?
I would like to consider the "Limits of Voltage Boosting.
Explanation
Let us consider the following example of increasing voltage.
"Water (electricity) in a cup is sucked up through a straw (circuit), thereby increasing the water level (voltage) of the water."
In this case, how can we make the water level higher?
If the amount of water is constant, the thinner the straw as possible and the smaller the amount of water to be sucked up,
the higher the water can be sucked up.
That means ...
If we make the straw infinitely thin and long, how high can water be sucked up?
That means there is no limit to the pressure boost!
No, it does not. Unfortunately, there is a limit to boosting pressure.
In this example, if we try to make the straw very thin and long, what kind of problems will occur?
By making it thin and long, won't the straw lose its strength and snap off?
Then, why don't we just make straws from stronger materials? You might think, "Why don't we just make straws out of stronger materials?
The strength limit of a material is the "absolute maximum rating" of the device!
(For more information on absolute maximum ratings, please refer to this article. (For more information on absolute maximum ratings, see this article.)
No matter how high the voltage can be boosted, if the absolute maximum rating is exceeded, the device will break, and there is no way around it.
In other words, it is not the voltage multiplier circuit that sets the limit of voltage multiplication, but the devices that are supplied with the voltage from the voltage multiplier circuit.
Thinking in terms of an actual circuit
In this example, the "make the straw thinner to reduce the amount of water flowing through it" is a good example,
In an actual circuit, this corresponds to speeding up the switching of the IC power supply to reduce the amount of electricity flowing at one time.
Conclusion
There is no theoretical limit with respect to voltage boosting using a voltage multiplier circuit.
However, if a voltage is applied to a device supplied with voltage from a voltage multiplier circuit at a voltage so high that it exceeds its absolute maximum rating, the device will fail.
Therefore, in effect, the absolute rating of the device determines the limit of the voltage multiplier.
Guu's Musings
It's a little sad that there is no limit to voltage boosting, but the device can't withstand it.
Extra
The voltage multiplier method introduced in this article utilized the switching of power supply ICs,
However, there is another method that uses a transformer.
A transformer has a structure with two iron cores with conductors wound around each other, and the ratio of the number of windings of the conductors in the two iron cores is the voltage multiplier ratio.
If you are interested, please check it out.
New Engineer's Blush Blog Article List