New transistors may reduce power leakage during 'AC to DC conversion' by a third

London, July 15 (ANI): Japanese researchers say that the leakage of power, which results when a gadget converts alternating current to direct current, may be reduced by a third by switching to converters that use gallium nitride transistors rather than silicon ones.

Experts at Fujitsu Laboratories in Kawasaki say that such transistors may also make adaptors small enough to fit inside a laptop, something that may be helpful in doing away with the need to carry a separate adaptor.

They highlight the fact that the circuitry that creates a stable direct current from an AC source relies on transistors that can switch quickly from a state that conducts current to one that blocks it, and that conventional silicon transistors can lose a significant amount of power through current leakage during this process because the material's properties break down at high voltages.

However, say the researchers, gallium nitride (GaN) has a much higher breakdown voltage, something that minimises such leaks, reports New Scientist magazine.

According to them, GaN transistors also operate at a higher frequency, which would allow manufacturers to shrink the size of an adaptor's transformer coils, and this should allow adaptors to be reduced to one-tenth of today's size by 2011.

The company has revealed that its first application will be in huge power-guzzling data centres, where the firm will be able to reduce total power consumption by about 12 per cent. (ANI)