TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY:
Alex Zettl and Qin Zhou of Berkeley Lab have developed a miniaturized graphene-based electrostatic audio transducer. The speaker / earphone is straightforward in design and operation and has excellent frequency response across the entire audio frequency range (20 Hz – 20k Hz) with performance matching or surpassing commercially available audio earphones. Graphene has extremely low mass density and high mechanical strength, key qualities for efficient wide-frequency-response electrostatic audio speaker design. Low mass ensures good high frequency response, while high strength allows for relatively large free-standing diaphragms necessary for effective low frequency response.Details of this technology are available in the researchers’ publication and other articles listed below.
Recordings of songs played through EDGS
Somebody that I Used to Know, by Gotye (128kbps mp3 format)
Sound of Silence, by Simon and Garfunkel (128kbps mp3 format)
If you use any of the following media or images, please include the credit “Courtesy Zettl Research Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California at Berkeley.” The recordings are made in the following condition: The source files are 128 kbps mp3 music files, played through Creative® Audigy ZS2 sound card, voltage amplified by ~30x using operational amplifiers (AD797), played through EDGS, and recorded by a close-by SONY® ICD-SX700 Digital Voice Recorder. The raw left channel recordings are compressed into 128 kbps mp3 files.
STATUS: Patent pending. Available for licensing or collaborative research.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Zhou, Q., Zettl, A. “Electrostatic Graphene Loudspeaker,” Cornell University Library, March 10, 2013.
SEE THESE OTHER BERKELEY LAB TECHNOLOGIES IN THIS FIELD:
Nanotube Radio for Communications and Medical Applications, IB-2431
REFERENCE NUMBER: IB 2013-030