Innovation in Electronic Cigarette Heads and Industry Transformation

A tiny diaphragm microphone is one of the most overlooked core components of an electronic cigarette, yet it holds the "breathing code" of the device, playing a crucial role in influencing the user experience. After more than a decade of technological iterations, from the traditional electret diaphragm microphone to the current dominance of silicon microphones, it not only addresses product pain points but also drives the industry towards standardization and intelligence.
This article will take you on a journey to uncover the development history of electronic cigarette diaphragm microphones, analyze the breakthrough advantages of silicon microphone technology, and look forward to the future of the industry.
I. The Development History of Electronic Cigarette Diaphragm Microphones
① φ6 electret diaphragm microphone


Around 2010, electret microphones began to enter the field of electronic cigarettes. This type of microphone consists of a dust-proof screen, a housing, a back electrode plate, a gasket, a diaphragm, a cavity, and a PCB board. With mature manufacturing processes and low costs, electret microphones quickly dominated the market and became the standard configuration for early electronic cigarette products. However, due to problems such as poor heat resistance, inconsistent performance, self-starting easily, and unstable output, the limitations of electret microphones have become increasingly obvious in recent years.
② 2718 silicon microphone

In 2018, with the maturity of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology, silicon microphones began to come into the view of electronic cigarette engineers. Compared with traditional electret microphones, the 2718 silicon microphone adopts semiconductor packaging technology and combines with ASIC chips to achieve digital signal output. Its excellent characteristics such as high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, high sensitivity, and good waterproof and oil-proof performance perfectly adapt to the complex usage scenarios of electronic cigarettes.
③φ6 sealed silicon microphone

In the second half of 2024, the industry witnessed disruptive innovation. φ6 one-time molded silicon microphones began to be launched to the market. Not only did it solve the problems of high temperature resistance, poor oil resistance, and poor consistency of electret diaphragm microphones, but also addressed the leakage risk and cost issues of φ6 sealed silicon microphones. Currently, many companies have begun mass production.
II. Advantages of Silicon Microphones Compared to Electret Diaphragm Microphones
The principles of both silicon microphones and electret diaphragm microphones are to form a parallel plate capacitor through a diaphragm and a back electrode. Through the pressure difference of the airflow, the diaphragm deforms, thereby changing the capacitance value, which is then processed by an ASIC chip and output as an electrical signal to achieve the start and stop of electronic cigarettes.
(Structure and principle of electret diaphragm microphones)
(Structure and principle of 2718 silicon microphones)
(Structure and principle of φ6 one-time molded silicon microphones)
The main differences between silicon microphones and electret diaphragm microphones lie in the diaphragm material and packaging method. In terms of diaphragm material, the diaphragms of silicon microphones are usually silicon-based membranes, which are formed once using wafer technology, ensuring good consistency, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and less deformation. The initial capacitance value is around 1 pF, suitable for all ASICs on the market. The diaphragms of electret diaphragm microphones use PET/PPS plastic membranes, which have a large area, poor stability, oil resistance, corrosion resistance, and are prone to deformation and high-temperature resistance. The initial capacitance value is around 30 pF, suitable for some ASICs.


In terms of packaging, the MEMS micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) chip-on-silicon microphone adopts the chip-on-silicon packaging method, while the traditional electret microphone uses the laminated packaging method. In terms of packaging precision, heat dissipation performance, product consistency, and production yield, the MEMS micro-electromechanical system chip-on-silicon microphone has obvious advantages.

III. Core Elements Determining the Quality of Si-Microphones
With the development of the electronic cigarette Si-microphone industry, apart from the leading enterprises Sensic Micro, Daimicro, and AAC, many other manufacturers have recently launched Si-microphones. However, for manufacturers to achieve large-scale shipments of Si-microphones, they need to meet five core elements:
① They need to develop Si-microphones specifically for electronic cigarettes ② They need to have ASICs that precisely match the Sensor ③ They need mature and stable packaging and testing processes ④ They need their own large-scale packaging and testing capacity ⑤ They need verification of large-scale shipments of Si-microphone products in the market

Since the silicon microphone is a MEMS package, its application scenarios are special, and it has very high requirements for the performance of the Sensor, the matching of the ASIC, and the packaging process. To achieve large-scale production of silicon microphones, it still requires a relatively long period of process verification and market validation. Even a leading manufacturer has experienced multiple quality incidents. Industry insiders generally believe that new entrants to the silicon microphone market still have many pitfalls to avoid and a long way to go before achieving large-scale production.
4. Summary
The competition in the electronic cigarette industry is essentially a competition for core technologies. The innovation of the electronic cigarette microphone technology is not only a hardware upgrade but also a reshaping of industry standards and quality thresholds. Looking forward, with the technological accumulation and application of leading silicon microphone enterprises such as Sensic Micro, Daimicro, and AAC, silicon microphones will accelerate the replacement of traditional solutions and drive electronic cigarettes to move towards higher quality.