  Vibrating membranes are the cornerstone of acoustic technology, forming the
backbone of modern loudspeakers and microphones. Acoustic performance of
condenser microphone is derived mainly from the membrane's size and achievable
static tension. The widely studied and available nickel has been the one of
dominant membrane material for several decades. In this paper we introduce
multilayer graphene as membrane material for a condenser microphone. The
graphene device outperforms a high end commercial nickel-based microphone over
a significant part of the acoustic spectrum, with a larger than 10 dB
enhancement of sensitivity. Our experimental results are supported with
numerical simulations, which show that a 300 layer thick graphene membrane
under maximum tension would offer excellent extension of the frequency range,
up to 1 MHz, with similar sensitivity as commercial condenser microphones.

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics