During PIONEAR’s 4th General Assembly Meeting from 1-3 April 2025 in Buchs, Switzerland, seven consortium partners met to discuss the progress, challenges, and future of the novel photonic microphone technology in development.
Four of the 19 participants shared their responsibilities, perspective and own personal experience in combining acoustics with laser technology and about the precise control of microscale devices:
- Project coordinator Per Grön, founder and chief executive officer of Lumiary, emphasized that the high-performance target of the microphone requires three distinct innovations – the acoustic performance of the system, the performance of the sensor and the digitalisation of the signal – all of which are solved by using a novel laser technology.
- Markus Michler from the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, responsible for the mechanical parts of the microphone, explained how his team is dealing with the placement of the laser, which serves as the sensing element, into the microphone capsule and with providing the interface for sound measurements as they put pressure onto the membrane.
- Magdalena Marciniak from the Lodz University of Technology talked about her work with semiconductor lasers, which her team designs and characterizes. The main goal of her photonics group is the design of the laser structure and the characterisation of the device used in the microphone.
- Kamil Gradkowski from the Tyndall National Institute has the important role of taking all the elements fabricated by the other consortium members, such as the acoustic chamber, the membrane and the laser, and assemble them inside the microphone capsule, thereby putting all the interfaces into place to have a functional device.
Watch the video below to hear what the different partners have to say and to learn more about the innovative research behind the PIONEAR project.
