When direct current flows through an inductor, inductance drops. This cause a larger amount of current to flow, resulting in a phenomenon known as "DC superposition." When this phenomenon occurs, the circuit becomes unstable, loss increases, and in the worst case, the IC circuit could possibly be destroyed. Metal composite inductors that employ a metal core are extremely well-suited to handle DC-superposed characteristics. As the following figure shows, inductance drops sharply at about 7A for conventional inductors due to magnetic saturation, whereas it only decreases slightly in the large current range for metal composite inductors (MPC/MPC-G Series). This enables a stable circuit design in large current applications. In addition to DC superposition, inductors require "low energy loss." It’s important to identify how much core loss can be reduced and to what degree power supply efficiency can be enhanced. It is well known that the efficiency of mobile equipment, particularly laptop computers, at light loads, is significantly affected by extended periods of time on standby mode. As the following example of power supply efficiency shows, metal composite inductors (MPC/MPC-G Series) have less core loss at light loads than conventional inductors, and therefore contribute to better power supply efficiency. This is a key factor why metal composite inductors are chosen for laptop computers that offer the same high function as desktop computers that require long battery life.