Microfabricated electroacoustic transducers with perforated moving plates used as microphones or acoustic sources have appeared in the literature in recent years. However, optimization of the parameters of such transducers for use in the audio frequency range requires high-precision theoretical modeling. The main objective of the paper is to provide such an analytical model of a miniature transducer with a moving electrode in the form of a perforated plate (rigid elastically supported or elastic clamped at all boundaries) loaded by an air gap surrounded by a small cavity. The formulation for the acoustic pressure field inside the air gap enables expression of the coupling of this field to the displacement field of the moving plate and to the incident acoustic pressure through the holes in the plate. The damping effects of the thermal and viscous boundary layers originating inside the air gap, the cavity, and the holes in the moving plate are also taken into account. The analytical results, namely, the acoustic pressure sensitivity of the transducer used as a microphone, are presented and compared to the numerical (FEM) results.

Faculty of Transportation Sciences Czech Technical University Prague Konviktská 20 110 00 Praha Czech Republic

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Editorial for the Special Issue on Micromachined Acoustic Transducers for Audio-Frequency Range