Boost converter

Low-cost converter modules: two buck and one boost.
Boost converter from a TI calculator, generating 9 V from 2.4 V provided by two AA rechargeable cells.

A boost converter or step-up converter is a DC-to-DC converter that increases voltage, while decreasing current, from its input (supply) to its output (load).

It is a class of switched-mode power supply (SMPS) containing at least two semiconductors, a diode and a transistor, and at least one energy storage element: a capacitor, inductor, or the two in combination. To reduce voltage ripple, filters made of capacitors (sometimes in combination with inductors) are normally added to such a converter's output (load-side filter) and input (supply-side filter).