posted
Mics are built of the usual building materials like plastics, various metals and the like. The element is not unlike a speaker with a plastic diaphram that holds a coil of fine wire in the gap of a magnet. Sound waves move the diaphram and the coil. This moving coil excites electrons in the coil of wire and you get a signal that can be measured. The highest I have seen is 185db. I'm sure the military or nasa has something higher