MIT engineers have developed an ultra-thin speaker. The team says the unique design should be energy efficient and easy to mass produce.

At the heart of the dynamic is the vibration of the membrane, which manipulates the air above it and creates sound waves. Commonly used speakers in sound systems or headphones use electric currents and magnetic fields.

But in recent years, scientists have developed ways to achieve similar results in much thinner devices. The problem is that these slender speakers must either be set apart or separate from the other surface – the housing reduces their ability to vibrate and make noise. But in a new study, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have redesigned the thin speakers so they can be installed on different surfaces.

Instead of forcing the entire surface of the membrane to vibrate, the team created a grid of raised domes that vibrate independently of each other. To do this, a thin layer of piezoelectric material only 8 micrometers thick is placed between two layers of polyethylene terephthalate. A PET sheet has a grid of tiny holes through which the piezoelectric material passes. The substrate of PET protects the membrane and allows you to attach the speaker to the surface.

The resulting loudspeaker consists of thousands of tiny baths 15 micrometers high.