Ultimate Photo-Thermo-Acoustic Efficiency of Graphene Aerogels

The ability to generate, amplify, mix, and modulate sound with no harmonic distortion in a passive opto-acoustic device would revolutionize the field of acoustics. The photo-thermo-acoustic (PTA) effect allows to transduce light into sound without any bulk electro-mechanically moving parts and electrical connections, as for conventional loudspeakers. Also, PTA devices can be integrated with standard silicon complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication techniques. Here, we demonstrate that the ultimate PTA efficiency of graphene aerogels, depending on their particular thermal and optical properties, can be experimentally achieved by reducing their mass density. Furthermore, we illustrate that the aerogels behave as an omnidirectional pointsource throughout the audible range with no harmonic distortion. This research represents a breakthrough for audio-visual consumer technologies and it could pave the way to novel opto-acoustic sensing devices.