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A Low-Frequency Dual-Band Operational Microphone Mimicking the Hearing Property of Ormia Ochracea

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A Low-Frequency Dual-Band Operational Microphone Mimicking the Hearing Property of Ormia Ochracea This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this journal. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination. JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS 1 A Low-Frequency Dual-Band Operational Microphone Mimicking the Hearing Property of Ormia Ochracea Yansheng Zhang , Ralf Bauer , Member, IEEE, Joseph C. Jackson , William M. Whitmer , James F. C. Windmill , Senior Member, IEEE, and Deepak Uttamchandani , Senior Member, IEEE Abstract— This paper introduces a directional MEMS micro- laptops, hearing aids, digital assistants, etc. due to their phone designed for hearing aid applications appropriate to extremely small footprint, high signal to noise ratio and low-frequency hearing impairment, inspired by the hearing lower power consumption compared to traditional electret mechanism of a fly, the female Ormia ochracea.Itusesboth piezoelectric and capacitive sensing schemes. In order to obtain a condenser microphones. Most MEMS microphones can be high sensitivity at low frequency bands, the presented microphone categorized into two types: omnidirectional and unidirectional. is designed to have two resonance frequencies below the threshold When surrounding environmental noise cancellation is of of low-frequency hearing loss at approximately 2 kHz. One the greatest consideration in an application’s development is around 500 Hz and the other is slightly above 2 kHz. such as in vocal device and live recordings, unidirectional The novel dual sensing mechanism allows for optimization of the microphone sensitivity at both frequencies, with a maxi- microphones are the first choice for developers. Instead of mum open-circuit (excluding pre-amplification) acoustic response generating an electrical response from acoustic energy arriving captured via differential piezoelectric sensing at approximately from all directions around the device, as the omnidirec- −46 dB (V) ref. 94 dB (SPL) at the resonance frequencies. The tional microphone does, the unidirectional microphone has corresponding minimum detectable sound pressure level is just its strongest output when acoustical energy arrives along a below −12 dB. The comb finger capacitive sensing was employed due to a lower electrical response generated from a ground single axis vertical through or parallel with the surface of referenced single-ended output by the piezoelectric sensing at the a vibrational membrane. The omnidirectional and the unidi- first resonance frequency compared with the second resonance rectional MEMS microphones also have different frequency frequency. The capacitive sensing mechanism, connected to a response patterns. In order to achieve a flat response in the − charge amplifier, generates a 28.4 dB (V) ref. 94 dB (SPL) frequency range of interest, and also due to their miniature acoustic response when the device is excited at either of the two resonance frequencies. Due to the asymmetric geometry and the scale, the resonance frequencies of both types of microphones’ 400 µm thick substrate, the device is predicted to perform as a membranes are set much higher than the maximum working bi-directional microphone below 3 kHz, which is shown by the frequencies. As the omnidirectional microphones (most of measured directional polar patterns. [2018-0036] them are condenser type microphones) enclose an air cavity Index Terms— Low frequency acoustics, microphone, biologi- between the membrane and the electrode on a back plate, cally inspired, Ormia ochracea, dual-band. air damping is introduced into the system and decreases the Q factor, extending the bandwidth and flattening the I. INTRODUCTION frequency response below the resonance frequency. However, the membranes of most commercial unidirectional MEMS INCE Knowles released the first commercial MEMS microphones are exposed to the medium to create pressure microphone – SiSonic in 2001, MEMS microphones have S gradient between the front and the rear of the vibrational been widely used in mobile applications such as smartphones, membrane. This open geometry reduces air damping and Manuscript received February 23, 2018; revised May 11, 2018; accepted provides a higher Q factor, therefore most unidirectional June 3, 2018. This work was supported in part by the EPSRC under MEMS microphones work as a high-pass filter throughout the Grant EP/M026701/1 and in part by the European Research Coun- cil through the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme under frequency range of interest and do not have a strong response Grant FP/2007-2013 and ERC under Grant 615030. Subject Editor C. Rembe. at low frequency bands. To resolve this shortcoming in the (Corresponding author: Yansheng Zhang.) unidirectional microphones, researchers have found several Y. Zhang, R. Bauer, J. C. Jackson, J. F. C. Windmill, and D. Uttamchandani are with the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Univer- solutions [1]–[3]. One option is to combine two identical sity of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XW, U.K. (e-mail: yansheng.zhang.101@ omnidirectional MEMS microphones into an array and utilize strath.ac.uk; [email protected]; [email protected]; james. the time difference of sound arrival (TDOA) between the [email protected]; [email protected]). W. M. Whitmer is with the Scottish Section, Medical Research two elements in order to derive the sound incident angle. Council/Chief Scientist Office Institute of Hearing Research, Glasgow Nonetheless, the whole package size of this solution is at least G31 2ER, U.K. (e-mail: [email protected]). twice the size of a single MEMS microphone, and any mis- Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. match between the two microphones can introduce localizing Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JMEMS.2018.2845680 errors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this journal. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination. 2 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS In 2002, Tan et al. [4] built a biomimetic directional individual conversation. However, they usually have difficulty MEMS microphone structure based on their previous research, of hearing in group conversations and in noisy environments. Miles et al. [5], on the hearing mechanism of a female par- As low frequency impairment is much rarer than the high asitoid fly, the Ormia ochracea. This species of fly is able frequency hearing loss, the hearing aids for low frequency to detect the 5 kHz mating calls of their cricket host with hearing impairment are typically those pre-designed for high a 2-degree resolution relying on two tympana only separated frequency loss and do not offer a complete resolution of the by 500 μm underneath the insect’s head. The mechanical cou- hearing problem. Compared to previously mentioned designs, pling generated by an intertympanal bridge connecting the two the present work moves the bending resonance frequency tympana enhances the mechanical sensitivity and increases the close to 2 kHz by lateral shifting the torsional beam, thus TDOA. Moreover, the hearing organ working at its two main changing the mass ratio of the two diaphragms. The design mode shapes – rocking mode (i.e. two membranes moving out however still keeps the fundamental resonance mode shapes of phase) and bending mode (i.e. two membranes moving in as shown in Fig. 1 and unifies the directional behavior of the phase) generated by the mechanical coupling can be regarded device at the two main resonance frequencies, which broadens as a pressure gradient microphone (i.e. a unidirectional micro- the low frequency response. The piezoelectric sensing film phone) and a pressure microphone (i.e. an omnidirectional covers the area of the vibrating membrane with high strain microphone), respectively. Further, the hearing organ performs to produce sensing elements. As there is no charge pump, as a combination of these two basic microphone models. In the as is utilized in a condenser microphone and consumes time years following the initial publications, R. Miles’s research before the device reaches the steady-state, the piezoelectric group developed various MEMS microphones mimicking the microphone has a faster transient response just after powering mechanical performance of Ormia’s hearing organ, integrated it on compared to the condenser microphone. This paper also with different sensing methods [6], [7] and having different discusses the impacts of the bias of torsional beam to the center geometrical size [8], [9]. The basic model of the design of the whole vibrational plate and varying substrate thickness is constructed with a fully released polysilicon plate and a on the frequency response and the directional patterns of T-shaped torsional beam placed at its center, orthogonal to the Ormia-inspired microphone as well as the pressure field the plate’s long axis. The torsional beam not only works as surrounding the device. a pivot allowing the model to perform a see-saw rocking mode, but also divides the plate into two diaphragms with the II. DESIGN AND ANALYTICAL MODEL same surface area that represents the two identical tympana of the fly Ormia, and hence include a bending movement Unlike the Ormia-inspired MEMS microphones that have mode shape. The frequency response of their latest device traditional symmetric geometry (i.e. the shape and the mass resembles a narrow
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