A MEMS-Based Co-Oscillating Electrochemical Vector Hydrophone

Abstract

Aiming at the development needs of low-frequency and high-sensitivity vector hydrophones, this paper has developed a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based co-oscillating electrochemical vector hydrophone. We obtained the optimized geometric parameters through simulation analysis of the diameter of the rubber membrane, the length of the flow channel and the diameter of the flow holes. Based on the simulation results, electrodes were fabricated using MEMS technology, and were then assembled and tested. Device characterization was conducted, where the sensitivity and bandwidth were quantified as 0.5–150 Hz, −187 dB ref. 1 V/µPa, respectively. Compared with a previously reported co-oscillating vector hydrophone, the co-oscillating vector hydrophone developed in this article featured a lower working frequency band.