Tailoring quasi-transparent ceramic as a laser-driven photonic engine for kilometer-level white light communication

Abstract

High-power white light sources are highly desirable in laser lighting and the emerging visible light communications (VLCs) for next-generation 6G wireless system; however, the advance is restricted by deficient and inefficient emitters. Here, we develop a wafer-scale, Ce3+-doped, garnet-type, quasi-transparent ceramic as yellow emitters through a mild stepped crystallization in aluminosilicate glasses. We elaborate that the densified crystallization process originates from the tailored crystallization energy barrier and the release of ion migration channels during the transformation of the amorphous glass to fully crystallized ceramics. The quasi-transparent, ceramic-based, laser-driven white light photonic engine generates a luminous efficacy of 202 lm W−1 and further supports outdoor VLC over 1.2-kilometer distances, with a peak bandwidth of up to 71.8 MHz. The full crystallization strategy from glass to quasi-transparent ceramic catalyzes the innovation of transparent luminescent mediums, and the photonic engine lays the foundation for the integration of laser lighting and future VLCs.