Sensitivity of an optical feedback interferometer for acoustic waves measurements

Abstract

This work presents a sensitivity study on the use of an optical feedback interferometer to measure acoustic pressure from plane waves. The sensitivity is established by linearising the interferometer's governing equations. It is shown to be independent of the acoustic wave frequency but dependent on configuration parameters such as the optical feedback parameter or the length of the laser through which the acoustic wave passes. Experimental validation is carried out using three acoustic waveguides in the 0.5–18 kHz range. The sensitivity obtained enables broadband acoustic pressure measure with a low mean relative error in comparison with a reference condenser microphone.