New transistors to reduce need for 'wall warts'
THE power gadgets waste when converting alternating current to direct current could be cut by a third by switching to converters that use gallium nitride transistors instead of silicon ones.
These transistors will also make adaptors small enough to fit inside a laptop - doing away with the need to carry a separate adaptor, says a team at Fujitsu Laboratories in Kawasaki, Japan.
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. 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.
