Plasma-powered solid-state laptop cooler to debut at CES — new cooler design uses ionized gas and electrical discharge to generate airflow

1 day ago 23

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Deep-tech giant YPlasma is preparing to announce a new solid-state cooling solution for laptops at CES 2026. According to a blog post the company published, the new cooler design can cool laptop devices at an "ultra-quiet" 17 dBA using the world's first DBD plasma actuators for consumer electronics. The company also announced that this same cooling design will be used to address the cooling needs of power-hungry AI-focused servers.

This new cooler design uses "Dielectric Barrier Discharge plasma actuators" to generate airflow without any moving components. According to YPlasma's literature review of the technology: "Wind is generated by ionizing a thin layer of ambient gas adjacent to a dielectric surface..." YPlasma's coolers are taking advantage of corona discharge, an electrohydrodynamic phenomenon, to generate wind using electricity.

What makes YPlasma's design different from Frore System's AirJet solid-state coolers is the integration of plasma into the cooling solution. YPlasma claims that others have explored ionic cooling using corona discharge, but it has made strides in making it safe for consumer use. A big part of this is the use of a dielectric barrier to limit harmful ozone byproducts from being exposed to the surrounding environment.

If this cooling design sounds at all familiar, Frore Systems developed the world's first solid-state cooler a few years back and has since seen its cooler designs implemented in small-form-factor PCs and laptops. Solid-state cooling is a new, growing category of cooler designs that can cool electronics without any moving parts, providing super-quiet operation and low energy consumption in incredibly small form factors. But instead of using plasma, the AirJet uses ultrasonic frequencies to generate airflow.