History

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Electronic parts that age requested

A food shortage after the WWII prompted increased exploitation of marine resources. Thus, Japan became a fishery capital of the world. Fish finders played a large role in this trend.

The piezoelectric resonator for the fish finder had the Langevin structure, where a piezoelectric disc type resonator made with barium titanate was sandwiched between two thick steel plates. It provided good response underwater up to a depth of 90 m.

The first transistor radios hit the market in 1955. The basic trend of seeking downsizing and portability for household electronic equipment was set by this event.

Murata commercialized AM radio ceramic filters, using lead zirconium titanate, an excellent piezoelectric material. It took 10 more years for this product to penetrate the market, however.

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Color TVs appeared in the market right before the largest post-war event, the Tokyo Olympics.

A PTC thermistor was used in the degaussing circuits of color TVs. When the switch is turned on, a strong surge of electric current activates degaussing, directly followed by self-generation of heat, limiting the current flow.
Ceramic filters were also improved by having higher frequency and integration, and became a hit.

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It used to be a status symbol to make a phone call from a car. However, the initial car phone systems were incredibly large.

When it was first developed, the main component of the system, the cavity resonance filter, filled up the trunk of a car. Introduction of GIGAFIL® enabled considerable size reduction contributing to the future development of today`s mobile phones.

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Since the advent of PCs, the boundary between office equipment and personal equipment became blurred. The world of communications continues to expand today.

As PCs gain popularity, Murata’s CERALOCK®, ceramic resonator to determine a PC’s processing speed, and noise suppression component, ferrite beads, became big hits.

Headphone stereos became a fad. The downsizing of electronic components allowed full-scale stereo sound to fit in a pocket-sized player.

Chip multilayer ceramic capacitors became the mainstream, as surface mounted devices (SMD) on the substrate of equipment with downsizing demand, such as mobile audio equipment and video cameras.

Digitalization of audio equipment became complete through CD technology.

Murata’s active filter for audio equipment removes folding noise inherent in PCM audio. It became indispensable for digital-age music.

The home video camera was another item that followed the downsizing trend.

Image stabilization function with piezoelectric vibrating gyroscope became essential in filming equipment.

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Downsizing and multiple functionalities were in especially strong demand for mobile phones.

To offer smaller size and more functions for mobile phones, it was essential to have compact handling of radio frequencies. This is where Murata’s GIGAFIL® plays a significant part.

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Electronic parts that age requested

PC communication is quickly becoming more rapid and wireless. The PHS card is a module to compactly congregate communication functions.

Bluetooth® technology is projected to become the key to a ubiquitous network society. Murata pioneered the development of dedicated Bluetooth® modules.