Gigabit-per-second white light-based visible light communication using near-ultraviolet laser diode and red-, green-, and blue-emitting phosphors

TLDR

A III‑nitride NUV laser diode (410 nm) on a semipolar (2021¯) substrate served as the transmitter, and the NUV LD–RGB phosphor configuration is expected to experience lower sunlight background noise because the solar spectrum falls off rapidly in the NUV. The system achieved a 1 GHz modulation bandwidth, a CRI of 79 and CCT of 4050 K, and successfully transmitted data at rates over 1 Gbps.

Abstract

Data communication based on white light generated using a near-ultraviolet (NUV) laser diode (LD) pumping red-, green-, and blue-emitting (RGB) phosphors was demonstrated for the first time. A III-nitride laser diode (LD) on a semipolar (2021¯) substrate emitting at 410 nm was used for the transmitter. The measured modulation bandwidth of the LD was 1 GHz, which was limited by the avalanche photodetector. The emission from the NUV LD and the RGB phosphor combination measured a color rendering index (CRI) of 79 and correlated color temperature (CCT) of 4050 K, indicating promise of this approach for creating high quality white lighting. Using this configuration, data was successfully transmitted at a rate of more than 1 Gbps. This NUV laser-based system is expected to have lower background noise from sunlight at the LD emission wavelength than a system that uses a blue LD due to the rapid fall off in intensity of the solar spectrum in the NUV spectral region.