Efficient Color Conversion in Metal-Organic Frameworks Boosts Optical Wireless Communications beyond 1 GB/s Data Rate

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Optical Communications
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Efficient color converters are critical for high-speed optical wireless communications (OWCs).
• Lanthanide-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offer potential for advanced optical applications.
• Optimizing photoluminescence (PL) properties is key to enhancing OWC performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop high-performance color converters for OWC systems using lanthanide-based MOFs.
• To investigate the impact of an energy transfer strategy on MOF photoluminescence properties.
• To achieve data transmission rates exceeding 1 GB/s in OWC systems.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of lanthanide-based MOF-chromophore composites.
• Characterization of photoluminescence (PL) lifetime and energy transfer dynamics.
• Measurement of -3-dB bandwidth and net data rates in an OWC system.

Main Results:

• Reduced PL lifetime from 1.3 ms (MOF) to 4.6 ns (MOF-chromophore composite) via efficient energy transfer.
• Increased -3-dB bandwidth from <0.1 MHz to 65.7 MHz.
• Achieved a record net data rate of 1.076 GB/s, exceeding 1 GB/s.

Conclusions:

• Lanthanide-based MOFs combined with energy transfer strategies are highly effective color converters for high-speed OWC.
• The developed MOF color converters demonstrate superior performance compared to most organic and inorganic materials.
• This approach represents a significant advancement for future high-speed OWC technologies.