Microplasma microphones

Abstract

It is shown experimentally that a microplasma created by a microstructured electrode array is sensitive to sound pressure. In this paper, two electrode architectures are used to create the microplasma. The sensitivity of these microplasma microphones, close to 0.4 nA/Pa, is estimated using a waveguide and a calibration method by comparison with a reference microphone. An empirical expression of the acoustic pressure sensitivity of microdischarges is proposed. The predictions of this empirical model are in good agreement with the experimental data.

Keywords

• microplasma
• electric discharges
• transduction
• microphone
• acoustical measurements and instrumentation