Multi-target and ultra-high-speed optical wireless communication using a thin-film lithium niobate optical phased array

Abstract

Abstract Optical wireless communication (OWC) effectively addresses challenges such as radio spectrum scarcity and signal attenuation by leveraging the properties of laser beams. A major advance in this field comes from the incorporation of optical phased arrays (OPAs), which enable inertial-free, high-speed beam steering with transformative potential. In this contribution, we propose and demonstrate a multi-target and ultra-high-speed OWC system based on a thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) OPA. It enables real-time multi-target connection without mechanical components or lenses. This system can achieve OWC with a single-channel communication data rate of up to 320 Gbps in the modulation format of 16-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), significantly exceeding the peak capabilities of 5 G and current 6 G proposals. System performance is further validated through the stable transmission of uncompressed high-definition video. This work establishes a new paradigm for fully solid-state, chip-scale OWC systems, combining unprecedented single-channel data throughput with dynamic multi-target support.