Fiber laser microphones with graphene diaphragms

Abstract

An acoustic sensor comprises a sensing head comprising an optical fiber having a tip. A graphene diaphragm is disposed on the tip and is configured to vibrate in response to an acoustic signal. A fiber laser is optically coupled to the sensing head. The fiber laser comprises a first set of fiber Bragg gratings and a second set of fiber Bragg gratings. A gap is present between the first set and the second set of fiber Bragg gratings. The fiber laser is configured to generate a sensing optical signal having a first intensity in response to an excitation optical signal, the sensing optical signal impinging on the graphene diaphragm such that a feedback optical signal is reflected from the graphene diaphragm towards the fiber laser and has and has a second intensity modulated by the vibration of the graphene diaphragm that corresponds to the acoustic signal.