The sound of light – how our ability to hear lasers is being put to good use
As well as being more comfortable to wear, the new laser-based devices are expected to produce much cleaner, clearer sounds.
Conventional hearing aids work by amplifying the mechanical waves that constitute the sound and vibrate the eardrum. By contrast, the new laser-hearing devices are being designed to function using a completely different physical principle.
When certain types of light hit a surface some of the photons are absorbed and their energy is transformed into mechanical waves that generate sound, which is known as the optoacoustic effect.
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