November 28, 2024

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LG Innotek's Nexlim magnetic component (LG Innotek)

LG Innotek announced Monday it won the 2023 Edison Award in the commercial technology category for its ultrathin Nexlim magnetic component, which plays a crucial role in developing slim high-definition TVs.

The world's thinnest magnetic component is used in TV power modules and vehicle chargers for voltage regulation and signal filtering. It improves energy efficiency in electronics and electric vehicles by reducing heat-induced power loss.

LG Innotek started related research in 2017 as it anticipated a surge in demand for larger ultraslim TVs. The company commercialized a 9.9-millimeter Nexlim component in 2020, and further decreased its thickness to 7 millimeters in 2021.

The key to its ultraslim component is its own ferrite magnetic material, called X-2. The material lowers energy loss by 40 percent and triples power density compared to prior magnetic materials.

“We could find the optimized material composition for better efficiency in just six months thanks to artificial intelligence-based simulations,” said Bae Seok, an LG Innotek researcher.

Nexlim's ultrathin design allows TV power modules of between 7.2 and 9.9 millimeters in thickness, resulting in ultraslim TVs between 15 and 19.9 millimeters thick.

Building upon their success, LG Innotek has also developed a third-generation ferrite magnetic material called X-3, further reducing energy loss by 30 percent from the X-2.

By Moon Joon-hyun (ethan_moon@heraldcorp.com)