[sdiy] OT: Laser Microphones?

[Glen]

Does anyone know of any internet links regarding laser-based microphones,
other than those designed for surveillance? It just seems to me that
someone would have tried to make a microphone that used a laser, and use it
for "normal" high fidelity recording purposes. Unfortunately, all the
information I can find is related to bouncing a laser off someone's window,
to listen to conversations on the other side of the window.

Couldn't the beam be bounced off a reflective membrane mounted very close
to the laser, and then analyze the reflected beam, to record sounds in the
same room as the laser? I'm wondering what advantages there might be to
laser pickup of the membrane's vibrations, compared to magnetic (dynamic),
or electrostatic (condenser) pickup of the membrane's vibrations. 

It shouldn't be as prone to pickup of stray magnetic fields as a dynamic
mic, and therefore should work well around CRT's and other magnetic
devices. I think it might also offer the potential to have less background
hiss than a typical condenser, and have a potentially large dynamic range.

Does anyone know of any attempts to create such a microphone?

later,
Glen