High-Speed Visible Light Communications Using Individual Pixels in a Micro Light-Emitting Diode Array

The high-frequency modulation of individual pixels in III-nitride-based micro-pixel light-emitting diode arrays, where each array consists of 16 x 16 individually addressable 72-mu m-diameter pixels, are reported. The devices investigated have peak emission wavelengths at 370, 405, and 450 nm, respectively. The optical -3-dB modulation bandwidth of a typical pixel from the 450-nm-emitting device was found to be approximately 245 MHz. Data transmission at rates of up to 1 Gb/s is demonstrated from a single pixel emitting at 450 nm, using on-off keying nonreturn-to-zero modulation, with a bit-error ratio of less than 1x10(-10). Such devices have potential for free-space or fiber-coupled visible light communications.