YPlasma has showcased its ultrathin solid-state cooling module based on dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators on NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano at Computex 2026.
Ultrathin solid-state cooling solutions replacing thicker and noisier mechanical fans have been demonstrated on consumer hardware in the past, with solutions such as xMEMS µCooling fan-on-a-chip for SSDs and Frore Systems Airjet Mini and Airjet Pro used in laptops and mini PCs. Both solutions generate tiny vibrations to create an airflow, but YPlasma’s DBD plasma cooling module generates ionic wind to cool the device. This forces convection without moving parts, audible noise, vibration, or dust ingestion paths. We’ll explain more about the technology below.
The company validated the following on the NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano:
- Thermal range – 7 W to 25 W, the full operating range of the Jetson Orin Nano family, including Super Mode (25W), with a steady state reached in 10 minutes.
- Form factor – 200 micrometer flexible actuator with an 87 × 60 × 2 mm conductive plate, fitting within a 6 mm Z-height, below standard USB port height.
- Drive conditions: 16 kVpp at 50 Hz; actuator draws below 1 W. Production-grade portable driver targets IEC 62368-1 compliant operation under 2 W end to end.
- Acoustics – Solid-state operation, enabling sub-20 dBA operation
- Mechanical robustness – Zero moving parts, no measurable vibration, no dust intake path. Built for sealed enclosure thermal management in IP-rated industrial, automotive, and outdoor edge deployments.
What is ionic wind solid-state cooling exactly? YPlasma explains it in detail on its website. Here’s a summary.
Ionic wind, also known as electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow or the corona wind, is the bulk movement of neutral air induced by collisions with charged particles accelerated through an electric field. So instead of moving air with spinning blades or vibrating membranes, an ionic wind cooling module moves air with electric fields at high voltage (but low current, so it’s safe). The processor unfolding in three steps:
- Corona discharge and ionization: a sharp emitter electrode (a wire, needle, or thin exposed strip) is held at a high voltage, typically between 3 and 15 kV, against a grounded collector, and generates a cloud of positive (or negative) ions.
- Ion drift and momentum transfer: these ions accelerate and eventually collide with the vast majority of molecules — which remain neutral — transferring momentum on every collision.
- Bulk flow and convective heat transfer: the cumulative momentum of trillions of collisions per second drags the surrounding neutral air into a coherent jet that sweeps across nearby surfaces
The force per unit volume in EHD flow can be calculated with the formula F = ρ_q × E, where ρ_q is the local space-charge density and E is the electric field.
Three types of ionic wind devices have been implemented over time: Wire-to-Plate (Corona Wind), Needle-to-Ring, and DBD Plasma Actuators. YPlasma focuses on the latter, also the most advanced of the three. Here’s a short description:
Two electrodes are separated by a thin dielectric layer (typically Kapton, ceramic, or glass), with one electrode exposed to the air and the other buried beneath the dielectric. When driven by a high-voltage AC waveform, the exposed electrode ignites a stable, low-temperature surface discharge along the dielectric, generating a wall-jet of ionic wind tangent to the surface. DBD actuators are less than 1 mm thick, consume only 1–5 W, eliminate the spark-over risk of bare-electrode designs thanks to the dielectric barrier, and can be printed onto flexible films and conformed to almost any surface.
The table below compares ionic wind DBD actuators to mechanical fans.
| Metric | Ionic Wind (DBD) | Mechanical Fan |
|---|---|---|
| Moving parts | None | Bearings, blades, hub |
| Thickness | <1 mm | 5–40 mm |
| Acoustic noise | <20 dBA | 25–55 dBA |
| MTBF | >100,000 h | 30,000–70,000 h |
| Vibration | Zero | Inherent (rotor imbalance) |
What’s probably missing is the price, and while heatsinks and mechanical fans are cheap, the solid-state cooling solutions we’ve seen so far are not. Previous solutions appear to focus on consumer devices, while YPlasma targets embedded and robotics applications with the NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, where there may be more flexibility with regards to pricing, especially once space constraints are taken into account. Having said that, the company also mentions consumer electronics, data centers, automotive and power electronics, medical devices, and aerospace and defense as other potential applications.
Additional information may be found in the announcement.
Thanks to TLS for the tip.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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