AUGUST 13 2005

Electret condenser microphones in physical acoustics

research 
S. L. Garrett

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 83, S62 (1988)

https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2025440

CrossMark

 
View Export
Online Citation

27 October 2023 10:07:21

THURSDAY MORNING, 19 MAY 1988 EAST BALLROOM B, 8:00 TO 11:45 A.M.

SessionEE. Engineering AcousticsIV: Laboratory and Measurement CondenserMicrophones

GeorgeS. K. Wong, Chairman

National ResearchCouncilof Canada, PhysicsDivision,Montreal Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1A OR6, Canada

Chairman's Introduction--8:00

Invited Papers

8:05

EEl. Electret condenser

microphones in physicalacousticsresearch.S. L. Garrett (PhysicsDepartment,
Naval PostgraduateSchool,Monterey,CA 93943)

The simplestcondenser microphonein termsof constructionand useis a charged,aluminizedTeflon

membraneplaceddirectlyovera conducting backplate.In thisconfiguration,thelow-frequency opencircuit
sensitivity isdetermined approximately bytheproductofthe"effective" electretbiasvoltageandthecompress-
ibility of the fluidtrappedbetweenthe membraneandthebackplate,typically1 mV/Pa in air. This talk will
describe theprocedures for calibrationof sucha transducerin a resonator
anditsapplicationto themeasure-
mentofconstituents in binaryor pseudobinary gasmixtures.Otheraplicationsto low-temperaturephysicswill
be described that includeacousticmeasurement of temperaturefluctuations
with a perforatedelectretmem-
branehavinga detection thresholdof • 10nanokelvin/3/Hzin superfluid
4Heat 1 degaboveabsolute
zero,
andthemeasurement ofthetemperature dependence
oftheorderparameter ofsuperfluid
3He-Aand3He-Bat
temperatures
of ro• of a degreeaboveabsolute
zero.[Work supportedby theOfficeof NavalResearch.
]

27 October 2023 10:07:21

8:25

EE2. Laboratory calibration of standardand measurementcondensermicrophones.Victor Nedzelnitsky

(National Bureauof Standards, Building233 (Sound),RoomA149, Gaithersburg,
MD 20899)
The reciprocitytechniqueisthemosthighlydeveloped andmostwidelyusedprimarycalibrationmethodat
the major nationalstandardslaboratories of the world. Critical measurements of soundpressurein air are
usuallytraceableto suchcalibrations,which are briefly describedwith referenceto specificapparatusand
proceduresat the NBS. Secondarymethods,includingthosebasedupon reciprocity,can offer improved
convenience with minorto significant
sacrifices
in accuracyandprecision.Dynamicsignalanalyzersincorpor-
atingdigitalsignalprocessing arenow sufficientlyaccurateand preciseto offerpromisefor improvedand/or
morereadilyautomatedmeasurements, especiallysecondary free-fieldcalibrations.
Specificexamplesfromthe
NBS research and measurement services are discussed.

8:45

EE3. Microphonecomparisonwith the three-porttwo-microphone cavity. GeorgeS. K. Wong and Tony F.

W. Embleton(Division of Physics,National ResearchCouncilCanada,Ottawa,Ontario K 1A 0R6, Canada)

The performance
of the three-porttwo-microphone
cavity[WongandEmbleton,J. Acoust.Soc.Am 71,
1276-1277(1982)] forthecomparisonofcondenser
microphones isdescribed.
Theexperimentinvolves,1-,«-,
and •-in. microphones
from threemanufacturers.
With a referencemicrophone,
the abovecavityis ableto
measure,by comparison, thesensitivities
andfrequencyresponse of varioussizesof microphones underdiffer-
ent physicalconditions,
suchaswith or withoutprotectivegrids.For frequencyresponse measurements over
thefrequencyrangefrom 20 Hz to severalkilohertz,theexperimentalresultsaresimilarto thoseobtainedwith
theelectro-actuator
method,andthecavitymeasurement doesnot requireanyaccess to the air spacethat isin
closeproximityto the microphone diaphragm.In general,the frequencyresponse performance of the cavity
improveswith the smallersizemicrophones.

9:05

EE4. Scatteringof soundby finite cylinders--A preliminarystudyapplicableto microphones.

A. F. Seybert,
M.L. Lin, andT. W. Wu (Departmentof MechanicalEngineering, Universityof Kentucky,Lexington,KY
40506-0046)

Whenthewavelength
ofsound
isofthesame
orderasthediameter
ofamicrophone,
thediffraction
ofsound
in the nearfieldof the microphonewill alter the indicatedsound-pressure
amplitude.This fact haslongbeen

$62 d. Acoust.Soc.Am.Suppl.1, Vol.83, Spring1988 115thMeeting:Acoustical

Societyof America $62