(Phys.org)—A team of researchers with the University of California and SRI International has developed a new type of cooling device that is both portable and efficient. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes their new device and possible applications for its use. Q.M. Zhang and Tian Zhang with the Pennsylvania State University offer some background on electrocaloric theory and outline the work done by the team in California in a Perspectives piece in the same journal issue.