Insider Brief
- xMEMS Labs has begun mass production of its XMC-2400 and XMC-4800 solid-state cooling chips for AI glasses, smartphones and data-center hardware, with the first XMC-2400 products expected in early 2027.
- The chips use xMEMS’ all-silicon piezoMEMS technology to move air without rotating blades or bearings, targeting compact devices and data-center components where conventional fans may be impractical.
- xMEMS said customers testing µCooling have reported temperature reductions of 10 to 25 degrees Celsius across glasses, smartphones and SSDs, and the company plans to demonstrate the technology at CES 2027.
xMEMS Labs has begun mass production of two solid-state cooling chips designed for AI glasses, smartphones and data-center hardware, expanding its chip-based thermal management technology into commercial production.
According to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company, its XMC-2400 and XMC-4800 µCooling chips use an all-silicon design to move air without rotating blades or bearings. The first commercial products using XMC-2400 are expected to reach the market in early 2027. The new chips join the XMC-1200, which xMEMS introduced for AR and XR light engines, processors and other smart-glasses components.
The company is focused on thermal problems across edge devices and data centers. In compact AI products, the challenge is removing heat where conventional fans may be too large. In data centers, it is components outside high-power CPUs and GPUs, including SSDs, laser modules, memory and retimers, with localized airflow.
xMEMS said it is the first large-scale commercialization of solid-state active cooling to address rising heat levels as more AI processing, computer vision and multimodal computing move into smaller devices. XMC-2400 is designed for compact products including AI and XR glasses and personal solid-state drives. XMC-4800 provides greater airflow for AI smartphones and data-center applications, including enterprise SSDs and other lower-power subsystems.
“Edge AI systems are creating thermal requirements that conventional cooling technologies cannot
address,” said Mike Housholder, VP and general manager of xMEMS’ thermal management business unit. “AI glasses and AI smartphones need active heat removal in an extremely small form factor where conventional fans simply cannot fit, while zero noise, vibration and high-reliability remain critical design requirements.”
Both chips use xMEMS’ piezoMEMS semiconductor technology to generate controlled airflow through narrow spaces and around components such as processors, memory and storage. Unlike conventional miniature fans, the devices have no rotating blades or bearings, allowing them to operate without fan noise or vibration.
The Specs
The two devices differ primarily in size, airflow and power consumption.
XMC-2400: Measures 7.42 by 9.48 by 1.13 millimeters, delivers up to 28 cubic centimeters of airflow per second and as much as 1,300 pascals of back pressure while consuming about 150 milliwatts.
XMC-4800: Measures 9.93 by 14.35 by 1.13 millimeters, delivers up to 48 cubic centimeters per second and up to 1,100 pascals of back pressure while consuming about 240 milliwatts.
xMEMS noted that customers testing µCooling have recorded chip- and system-level temperature reductions ranging from 10 to 25 degrees Celsius across glasses, smartphones and SSD devices.
The company is expected to demonstrate its µCooling technology across AI glasses, smartphones and data-center applications at CES 2027.
