High-speed underwater optical wireless communication using a blue GaN-based micro-LED

High-speed underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) was achieved using an 80 mu m blue-emitting GaN-based micro-LED. The micro-LED has a peak emission wavelength of similar to 440 nm and an underwater power attenuation of 1 dB/m in tap water. The -3 dB electrical-to-optical modulation bandwidth of the packaged micro-LED increases with increasing current and saturates at similar to 160 MHz. At an underwater distance of 0.6 m, 800 Mb/s data rate was achieved with a bit error rate (BER) of 1.3 x 10(-3), below the forward error correction (FEC) criteria. And we obtained 100 Mb/s data communication speed with a received light output power of -40 dBm and a BER of 1.9 x 10(-3), suggesting that UOWC with extended distance can be achieved. Through reflecting the light emission beam by mirrors within a water tank, we experimentally demonstrated a 200 Mb/s data rate with a BER of 3.0 x 10(-6) at an underwater distance of 5.4 m. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America