A photonic microphone with better-than-human-ear sound quality

Introduction

Microphones play an increasingly important role in how we communicate and perceive the world in our ever more digital and virtual lives. They have developed tremendously in the past decades in terms of size and cost and are now ubiquitous in consumer electronics as well as in professional and industrial applications.

Limitations of Current Technology

Yet, despite all this progress, microphone technology falls short of perceiving audio as well as the human ear:

• No microphone has self-noise ≤ 0 dB SPL (defined as the threshold of human hearing).
• The capability to sense sounds up to 130 dB SPL.
• A bandwidth of 20 kHz.

Project Objective

The main objective of PIONEAR is to create the proof-of-concept of a novel miniature microphone with better-than-human-ear sound quality. It will be enabled by a radically new chromometric sensing solution that PIONEAR will develop by integrating electronic, micro-mechanic, and photonic technologies.

Consortium Collaboration

To realize this new sensing technology, PIONEAR brings together a unique consortium of 4 research partners and 3 SMEs from across Europe, all of which are leading experts in their field. This includes expertise in:

1. Manufacturing the special vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL).
2. Fabricating the miniature acoustic chamber and membrane.
3. Assembling and packaging the whole device with the highest precision.

Expected Impact

We expect PIONEAR to have a profound impact across multiple sectors. Armed with arrays of microphones that have very low noise, devices will be able to listen with programmable directivity and unprecedented selectivity, enabling products with intelligently selective, human-like hearing.

Applications

Applications range from:

• Consumer electronics and hearing aids.
• Autonomous robots and vehicles.
• Environmental monitoring.

Moreover, the underlying sensor concept is not limited to microphones. We expect that it will offer similar performance improvements in a broad range of sensor categories, including:

• Pressure and ultrasonic sensors.
• Biochemical sensors.
• Gas and aerosol sensors.
• Accelerometers.