Sennheiser invests in Norway’s sensiBel
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"We want to grow sustainably as a company. In addition to investments in our existing business, this also includes investments in promising future fields outside of our company, providing these align well to our company and our vision," explains co-CEO Daniel Sennheiser.
Andreas Sennheiser adds: "sensiBel's innovative optical MEMS technology is clearly this type of promising emerging field. As investors, we look forward to actively driving forward this groundbreaking development."
sensiBel has developed a miniature microphone using optical technology that enables a generational shift in MEMS microphone performance, which is now sampling with lead customers. “sensiBel shares the same vision as Sennheiser and we are proud to welcome Sennheiser as investor,” says sensiBel CEO Sverre Dale Moen. He continues: “We believe an investment from such a highly recognised audio company speaks of the merits of the technology and the potential for optical MEMS technology to shape the future of miniature microphones.”
The distinctive feature of sensiBel’s technology is the use of light waves to measure the movement of the diaphragm. By contrast, conventional MEMS microphones measure an electric field between the moving diaphragm and a backplate. In sensiBel's optical system however, a laser generates light beams that are projected onto the microphone membrane and reflected on a photo detector. The reflected beams are captured and processed in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) with a digital output data interface.
