Electret condenser

Microphone type incorporating a precharged element, eliminating need for bulky power sources.
Electret Condenser Microphone Capsules

An electret microphone is a type of electrostatic capacitor-based microphone, which eliminates the need for a polarizing power supply by using a permanently charged material.

An electret is a stable dielectric material with a permanently embedded static electric dipole moment (which, due to the high resistance and chemical stability of the material, will not decay for hundreds of years). The name comes from electrostatic and magnet; drawing an analogy to the formation of a magnet by the alignment of magnetic domains in a piece of iron. Electrets are commonly made by first melting a suitable dielectric material such as a plastic or wax that contains polar molecules, and then allowing it to re-solidify in a powerful electrostatic field. The polar molecules of the dielectric align themselves to the direction of the electrostatic field, producing a permanent electrostatic "bias". Modern electret microphones use PTFE plastic, either in film or solute form, to form the electret.

Key Terms

electret microphone
polar molecules
power supply
type electrostatic capacitor based microphone

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Electret condenser
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Last modified on September 10 2019
Content adapted from Wikipedia
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