New Headphone Technology Delivers Sound Via Carbon Nanotubes
Essentially, the new invention bypasses moving parts and instead relies on expansion and contraction of air to create sound. “We found that processing the carbon nanotube film into thin yarn arrays doesn’t weaken the thermoacoustic effect but can greatly improve the device robustness and durability. And the new design mounts the nanotube structures on silicon chips that are compatible with existing manufacturing methods. The thermoacoustic chips could be easily integrated into circuit boards for speakers with other electronic elements, such as control circuits." That's according to Yang Wei, a mechanical engineer at Tsinghua University.
It's tough to say if any of this is on a fast-track to commercial release, but it does introduce some interesting proposals. Perhaps Beats: Nanotube Edition are in your future, after all.