Patent ID: 8196415

Claim:
A Stirling cryogenic cooler comprising: a regenerator-expander unit that comprises a regenerator matrix located between an expansion space and a first side of an expander plunger, and a driving chamber located next to a second side of said plunger opposite to said first side, said plunger and said regenerator matrix arranged to move reciprocatively in a housing; a pressure wave generator arranged to pneumatically drive said regenerator-expander unit, said pressure wave generator comprising a compression chamber that contains therein non-thermal plasma, a plurality of electrically isolated discharge electrodes that protrude through walls of said compression chamber; and a conduit that forms a passage from said compression chamber to said driving chamber of said regenerator-expander unit; wherein said pressure wave generator, to which said discharge electrodes are connected, is operative to impart momentum to neutral gas adjacent said non-thermal plasma in said compression chamber through collisions between molecules and ions, thus producing pressure waves inside said compression chamber, wherein said pressure waves flow through said conduit to said driving chamber of said regenerator-expander unit to move said plunger.