A New Kind of Laser Microphone for Photoacoustic Applications

Abstract

We present in this paper a new kind of laser-based microphone device capable of detecting minute displacements of the microphone diaphragm, leading to drastically improved sensitivity in detecting the impinging pressure waves like acoustic waves and water waves over existing state-of-the-art laser and fiber-optic microphones. The drastically improved sensitivity in detecting diaphragm surface displacements of the novel laser microphone leads to niche applications including the photoacoustic detection of molecules and compounds with long standoff detection distances as well as highly sensitive technology for monitoring submarine activities. Preliminary experimental demonstration of the novel laser microphone technology is presented, validating the theoretical modeling that is also presented.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA504475

Entities

People

  • Chen-chia Wang
  • Feng Jin
  • Narasimha S. Prasad
  • Sudhir Trivedi
  • V. Swaminathan

Organizations

  • United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Sensors
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Waves
  • Detection
  • Displacement
  • Frequency
  • Laser Pulses
  • Lasers
  • Light Sources
  • Microphones
  • Modulation
  • Molecules
  • Monitoring
  • Phase Modulation
  • Pulse Amplitude
  • Pulsed Lasers
  • Semiconductor Devices
  • Vibration
  • Waves

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers