Performance Analysis and Design of an Optomechanical Microphone Using an Integrated Photonic Waveguide Interferometer
Abstract
We present an optomechanical microphone based on a diaphragm-integrated photonic waveguide Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Acoustic pressure deforms the MEMS diaphragm, inducing strain in the sensing waveguide and changing its optical path length. We analytically evaluate the optical and mechanical transduction mechanisms and key figures of merit, including signal-to-noise ratio, dynamic range, acoustic overload pressure, and minimum detectable pressure. Two design cases are considered: a MEMS microphone and a measurement microphone. The results indicate competitive performance but no substantial overall advantage over state-of-the-art microphones in conventional applications. The architecture may nevertheless offer advantages for high-temperature and other harsh-environment sensing applications.
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BibTeX
@misc{niu2026performance,
title = {{Performance Analysis and Design of an Optomechanical Microphone Using an Integrated Photonic Waveguide Interferometer}},
author = {Xiaoyu Niu and Yuqi Meng and Zihuan Liu and Ehsan Vatankhah and Neal Hall},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.24073},
eprint = {2609.24073},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.24073},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Performance Analysis and Design of an Optomechanical Microphone Using an Integrated Photonic Waveguide Interferometer
AU - Xiaoyu Niu
AU - Yuqi Meng
AU - Zihuan Liu
AU - Ehsan Vatankhah
AU - Neal Hall
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/27
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.24073
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.24073
AB - We present an optomechanical microphone based on a diaphragm-integrated photonic waveguide Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Acoustic pressure deforms the MEMS diaphragm, inducing strain in the sensing waveguide and changing its optical path length. We analytically evaluate the optical and mechanical transduction mechanisms and key figures of merit, including signal-to-noise ratio, dynamic range, acoustic overload pressure, and minimum detectable pressure. Two design cases are considered: a MEMS microphone and a measurement microphone. The results indicate competitive performance but no substantial overall advantage over state-of-the-art microphones in conventional applications. The architecture may nevertheless offer advantages for high-temperature and other harsh-environment sensing applications.
ER -