Tunable electro-optic filter based on metal-ferroelectric nanocomposite for VLC

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Materials Science
• Optical Communications

Background:

• Visible Light Communications (VLC) offers a new communication channel using illumination.
• Interference from unwanted light sources degrades VLC signal quality.
• Adaptive filtering is needed to mitigate these interferences dynamically.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate an innovative tunable notch filter concept for VLC systems.
• To enhance signal integrity by adaptively filtering unwanted light.
• To investigate the electro-optic tunability of ferroelectric thin films with noble metal nanoparticles.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a tunable notch filter using ferroelectric thin films (PZT) embedded with noble metal nanoparticles (Ag).
• Utilizing the linear electro-optic effect to tune the filter's refractive index via an applied voltage.
• Characterizing the filter's performance, including tunability range and stop band shifts, by varying layer parameters.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a tunable notch filter based on PZT embedded with Ag nanoparticles, tunable between 530 and 590 nm.
• Showcased filter adaptivity through voltage-controlled refractive index changes.
• Observed a blueshift in the stop band for filters using Ag nanoshells.

Conclusions:

• The proposed tunable notch filter effectively mitigates interference in VLC systems.
• The filter's characteristics can be optimized by adjusting material composition and geometry.
• These tunable filters have potential applications in lasers, imaging, and various optical communication systems.