Gigabit per second visible light communication based on AlGaInP red micro-LED micro-transfer printed onto diamond and...

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Materials Science
• Communications Engineering

Background:

• Full-color smart displays require integrated red-green-blue micro-LEDs for display and visible light communication (VLC) functions.
• Micro-LEDs offer potential for high-speed data transmission via light, but substrate choice impacts performance.
• Diamond's exceptional thermal conductivity is advantageous for high-power, high-speed optoelectronic devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To integrate aluminum gallium indium phosphide red micro-LEDs onto diamond and glass substrates.
• To evaluate the performance of these micro-LEDs for high-speed visible light communication (VLC) applications.
• To demonstrate the benefits of diamond substrates for enhanced VLC performance.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of red micro-LEDs using aluminum gallium indium phosphide material.
• Integration of micro-LEDs onto diamond and glass substrates via micro-transfer printing.
• Characterization of device performance, including current density and bandwidth.
• Demonstration of VLC using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulation.

Main Results:

• Micro-transfer printing successfully integrated red micro-LEDs onto both diamond and glass.
• On-diamond devices exhibited superior current density and bandwidth compared to on-glass devices.
• Error-free data rates of 2.6 Gbps (on-glass) and 5 Gbps (on-diamond) were achieved for single micro-LEDs.
• A 2x1 micro-LED array achieved error-free data rates of 3 Gbps (on-glass) and 6.6 Gbps (on-diamond).

Conclusions:

• Diamond substrates significantly enhance the performance of micro-LEDs for high-speed VLC due to superior thermal management.
• Integrated micro-LED displays are viable for high-bandwidth visible light communication.
• The demonstrated data rates show promise for future high-speed wireless optical communication systems.