Ultrabroadband on-chip photonics for full-spectrum wireless communications

The forthcoming sixth-generation and beyond wireless networks are poised to operate across an expansive frequency range-from microwave, millimetre wave to terahertz bands-to support ubiquitous connectivity in diverse application scenarios^1-3. This necessitates a one-size-fits-all hardware solution that can be adaptively reconfigured within this wide spectrum to support full-band coverage and dynamic spectrum management⁴. However, existing electrical or photonic-assisted solutions face a lot of challenges in meeting this demand because of the limited bandwidths of the devices and the intrinsically rigid nature of system architectures⁵. Here we demonstrate adaptive wireless communications over an unprecedented frequency range spanning over 100 GHz, driven by a thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonic wireless system. Leveraging the Pockels effect and scalability of the TFLN platform, we achieve monolithic integration of essential functional elements, including baseband modulation, broadband wireless-photonic conversion and reconfigurable carrier and local signal generation. Powered by broadband tunable optoelectronic oscillators, our signal sources operate across a record-wide frequency range from 0.5 GHz to 115 GHz with high-frequency stability and consistent coherence. Based on the broadband and reconfigurable integrated photonic solution, we realize full-link wireless communication across nine consecutive bands, achieving record lane speeds of up to 100 Gbps. The real-time reconfigurability further enables adaptive frequency allocation, a crucial ability to ensure enhanced reliability in complex spectrum environments. Our proposed system represents a marked step towards future full-spectrum and omni-scenario wireless networks.