ALPS Electric and ALPS Green Devices Announce their GLMC Series Liqualloy Power Inductor

Notebook PCs are becoming increasingly sophisticated, leading to higher power consumption. However, highly efficient power inductors are needed to balance improved processing capabilities with lower power consumption.

Furthermore, power inductors are used in high-current battery drivers such as high performance tablet PCs as well as in devices requiring higher power efficiency such as servers, and thus the market for power inductors is expected to expand.

In response, ALPS Green Devices has developed the industry's lowest loss*2 metal composite type power inductor GLMC Series, adopting ALPS' proprietary metallic glass material Liqualloy™. Liqualloy™ is a metallic glass developed by ALPS Electric together with Tohoku University and features an irregular atomic arrangement like glass with soft magnetic properties. Liqualloy™ can be easily powderized and formed into various shapes.

The GLMC Series adopts a metal composite structure where winding wire is integrally molded with magnetic material to realize a compact shape and support large electric current. Moreover, the GLMC Series achieved the industry's lowest DC resistance through design optimization of magnetic material and winding wire, becoming a low-heat-generating power inductor.

The GLMC Series will be exhibited in the ALPS Electric booth at this year's CEATEC JAPAN 2010, held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba starting October 5, 2010. ALPS Electric and ALPS Green Devices are focusing on further development of such green devices as power inductors that enable reduced CO2 emissions.

*1) Features the Industry's Lowest Loss: According to ALPS Electric as of September 15, 2010.
*2) DC resistance of the power inductor is low while magnetic and electrical conversion efficiency is high

Features

Compact power inductor with low loss developed

1. Lowest loss in the industry due to ALPS' proprietary magnetic material Liqualloy™
2. Low DC resistance provides excellent low-heat-generating characteristics
3. Metal composite structure enables compact shape and support for large electric current

Principal Applications

DC/DC converters for notebooks, servers, game consoles, etc.
Power sources for POL (point of load: a backup power source on server substrates, etc.)