Our concept for a photonic microphone uses novel optical instead of electronic techniques to capture sound. This allows for a radically higher sensitivity and broader dynamic range compared to condenser microphones, that are industry standards today.
Microphones today are everywhere, an ubiquitous part of everyday life. While the evolution of miniaturized microphone technology has taken giant leaps in the last three decades, reducing the size and cost of microphones, sound quality remains an unsolved challenge. No present-day microphone can perceive sound as well as the human ear.
A photonic microphone has the potential to overcome this long-lasting barrier. No microphone to date has a self-noise below the threshold of human hearing (0 dB(A) SPL), and at the same time the capability to sense sounds up to the threshold of pain (130 dB(A) SPL), while also covering the full bandwidth of 20 kHz. We strongly believe that microphones with better-than-human performance is a future standard.
Although our present focus is to create a proof-of-concept photonic microphone, the underlying concept is not limited to microphones. We expect that it will be applicable in a broad range of sensor categories, including pressure and ultrasonic sensors, biochemical sensors, gas and aerosol sensors, and accelerometers.