Magnetostrictive microelectromechanical loudspeaker.

A microelectromechnical-loudspeaker based on the magnetostrictive effect is presented. The membrane consists of a comb structure of monomorph bending cantilevers with an area of about 16 mm(2). Prototypes generate a sound pressure level (SPL) of up to 102 dB at 450 Hz with a total harmonic distortion of 2% inside a 2 cm(3) measurement volume. The fabrication process of the device as well as a coupled simulation model to calculate its sound pressure is introduced. The model reproduces the measurements and is employed to further optimize the loudspeaker membrane. As a result, a computed maximum SPL of 106 dB has been achieved with a -6 dB frequency range extending from 100 Hz to 2.6 kHz.