Magazine: Keep it cool - Pharmaceutical Technology

The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA The plasma jet in this example is made from helium, which creates a purple glow. The lab will experiment with other gases, too, to identify which is ideal for cooling. (Image: The University of Virginia) The University of Virginia Professor Patrick Hopkins may have figured out how to make a freeze gun — a la “Batman” villain Mr. Freeze — in real life. The discovery, which, counterintuitively, relies on heat-generating plasma, is not meant for weaponry, however; Hopkins wants to create on-demand surface cooling for electronics inside spacecraft and high-altitude jets. In fact, the idea piqued the U. S. Air Force’s interest to the point that it granted the professor’s ExSiTE Lab (Experiments and Simulations in Thermal Engineering) $750,000 over three years to study how to maximize the technology. From there, the lab will partner with Hopkins’ UVA spinout company, Laser Thermal, for the fabrication of a prototype device. On Earth — or in the air closer to it — the electronics in military craft can often be cooled by nature, Hopkins explained. And closer to the ground, the air is dense enough to help keep aircraft components chilled.