Fujitsu Laboratories announced Tuesday that the company has developed a new energy-saving transistor.
The new transistor developed by the company, based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, can reduce electricity loss that occurs in the power supply units of computers and other devices to one-third or less of the current level. By downsizing the transistor, the power supply unit can be integrated into the body of laptop computers, eliminating the need for AC adapters. The company is aiming for practical application of the new transistor by 2011.
In computers, the power supply unit converts alternating current into direct current, during which about 30 percent of the electric power is lost as the transistor produces heat.
While traditional transistors are normally made from silicon, Fujitsu's key technology research team succeeded in developing a transistor using gallium nitride, a material commonly used in blue LEDs. With gallium nitride's resistance to high-voltage current being 10 times as high as silicon's, transistors made from gallium nitride are more robust. At the same time, such transistors can reduce the electricity loss to below one-third of the level of silicon transistors, while a shorter inter-electrode distance enables a downsizing of the transistor.
Fujitsu hopes to start bulk production of the new transistor by 2011, and implement the replacement of older models at the company's data center. At the same time, the company's research team will engage in the development of small-sized transistors to replace the AC adapters of laptop computers.
"In five years, we will be able to develop technology to remove AC adapters from computers," says Toshihide Kikkawa, a chief researcher in charge of the development of the transistor. "By offering our expertise to other corporations, our new transistor can be further applied in electric vehicles and home appliances."
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