On May 29, we heard from Edson Perez, Cofounder of PeraWatt, about their pioneering of a broad range of products (transformers, inductors, motors) with “soft” magnetics.  There are generally three classes of magnetics: “hard” or permanent magnets, electromagnets, and “soft” magnetics.  These have been well-known for quite some time, but recent discoveries in materials science have enabled significant advances.  The field was revolutionized with the discovery in 1984 of very powerful permanent magnets based on the rare-earth element neodymium in an alloy with iron and boron.  Now, most high-efficiency motors use them.  Soft magnetic materials are those materials that are easily magnetized and demagnetized and are used to channel magnetic fluxes, among other things.  PeraWatt was founded to take some new soft magnetic materials from the lab to the market, exploiting lower losses to achieve higher efficiencies.  Edson noted that the efficiency losses in transformers and inductors are considerable, and PeraWatt’s new products are intended to reduce those losses significantly.  Edson described the journey so far in moving these materials into commercial markets and the challenges his company faces.

You can view his presentation slides here and a video of the Perspectives webcast here.