Suspended Graphene Hydroacoustic Sensor for Broadband Underwater Wireless Communications

Abstract

Compared to terrestrial and airborne wireless communications using radio waves, underwater wireless communications encounter a longstanding challenge: the aqueous-medium seriously attenuates electromagnetic waves. As the only choice to this day, underwater wireless communication employing acoustic waves is still hindered by hydrophone device performance. Several shortcomings, such as the unsatisfactory response bandwidth and circuitry complexity, severely limit the popularization potential. To address these issues, a cohort study of a hydroacoustic sounder device made by suspended graphene is proposed in this article as a novel scenario for underwater wireless communications. By testing the sensor performance, we demonstrate a significant passband extension up to 192 kHz, which is competent to overcome the ubiquitous issue of spectrum scarcity in acoustic communications. The response sensitivity estimated at the level ~80 mS Pa-1 may enable the detection of weak signals down to the level ~0.1 dB. Besides, our suspended graphene sounder also provides a hardware simplification potential that automatically modulates acoustic wave excitations into radio frequency signals. The device deployment convenience may facilitate the incorporation of underwater wireless communications into telecommunication networks.