Optical readout for novel on-chip directional microphone technology

Soundskrit是一家位于蒙特利尔的初创公司，正在开发一种新型的微型片上麦克风，与目前的片上麦克风技术不同，这种麦克风不仅可以测量声音的振幅，还可以测量声音的方向。这种方向性是当前小型化麦克风的关键优势，因为它无法区分来自多个方向的声源。例如，如果集成到手机中，他们的技术可能只接收拿着手机的人的声音，而拒绝大多数环境背景噪声源。他们的方法是基于非常轻和柔软的纤维，可以随声压波的方向和振幅自由移动。为了录音，必须记录光纤的位移，并将其与声波的振幅和方向相关联。纤维的极端柔软性和低质量要求使其与传统的电位移传感器不兼容。例如，电应变片**会增加不可接受的重量，以纤维和允许位移精度不足。同样，测量光纤和参考电极之间的电容是不现实的，因为光纤和参考电极之间的偏置电压会产生比声压波产生的力大得多的寄生力。**因此，我们将研究完全集成的片上光学位移读出技术。我们的目标是在项目结束时为Soundskrit提供一个功能性电子板级的概念验证技术

Soundskrit is a Montreal-based start-up company developing a new type of miniaturized on-chip microphone**which, as opposed to current on-chip microphones technologies, has the potential to measure not only the**amplitude of sound, but also its direction. Such directionality is key advantage compared to current**miniaturized microphone that cannot discriminate between sources of sound coming from multiple directions.**For example, if integrated inside a cell phone, their technology could potentially pick-up only the voice of the**person holding the phone while rejecting most ambient background noise sources.**Their approach is based on extremely light and soft fibers that move freely with the direction and amplitude of**acoustic pressure waves. For sound recording, displacement of the fiber must be recorded and correlated to**acoustic wave amplitude and direction. The extreme softness and low mass requirement of the fiber makes it**incompatible with conventional electrical displacement transducers. For example, electrical strain gauges**would add unacceptable weight to the fiber and allow insufficient displacement precision. Similarly,**measurement of electrical capacitance between the fiber and a reference electrode is unrealistic since a bias**voltage between the fiber and the reference would create a parasitic force much greater then the force resulting**from acoustic pressure waves.**We will consequently work on a fully integrated on-chip optical displacement read-out technique. Our goal will**be to provide Soundskrit with a functional electronic board level proof-of-concept technology by the end of the**project.**