Comparison of the Wide-Frequency Range Dynamic Behavior of the Dickson and Cockcroft-Walton Voltage Multipliers

Abstract

This work reports a measurement-assisted comparison between dynamic behaviors of the Dickson and the Cockcroft-Walton Voltage Multipliers (D-VM and CW-VM), including the charge transfer limits. The achieved results show that, when operating in the Fast Switching Limit (FSL), the CW-VM is intrinsically more performant in terms of settling time and total input energy than the D-VM. Moreover, CW-VM equivalent self-capacitance is measured to be considerably lower than D-VM one. Simulation and measurement results using SPICE and a discrete component implementation confirm the theoretical predictions. The reported results set the Cockcroft-Walton VM among the most efficient monolithic converters for modern energy-constricted electronic systems such as energy-autonomous nodes for IoT.