Beyond 5G: Enabling ultrafast data transfer with microcomb technology

Future wireless communication will require systems that support large bandwidth and ultrafast data transfer.

Heffernan et al. combine microcombs – which can generate radiation of up to a few THz – with traditional optical fiber communication techniques to achieve wireless communications with a higher carrier frequency than current 5G wireless standards.

The team’s achievement serves as a first-time proof-of-concept that shows the feasibility of achieving high-data-rate communications using a microcomb, a microresonator that generates comb-like frequencies. In real time, the team wirelessly transmitted a stream of data with a rate of 60 Gbps, using a microcomb on a silicon-nitride chip coupled to a fast photodiode emitting a 300 GHz wave.

“Future generations of communication technology, often referred to as ‘Beyond 5G’ or ‘6G,’ are expected to heavily rely on photonic technologies. One key advantage of photonics is the ability to encode data at high rates onto optical light, which can then be converted into THz or sub-THz radiation for transmission,” co-author Brendan Heffernan said. The team used a well-established technique of modulating data on laser light before mixing it down to 300 GHz for wireless transfer.

“Significantly, we are optimistic about the potential for advancing miniaturization and integration, which paves the way for the development of compact and integrated wireless transceivers capable of achieving high data rates in the future,” said co-author Antoine Rolland.

The team plans to further develop their results to create miniature, integrated devices.

Source: “60 Gbps real-time wireless communications at 300 GHz carrier using a Kerr microcomb-based source,” by Brendan M. Heffernan, Yuma Kawamoto, Keisuke Maekawa, James Greenberg, Rubab Amin, Takashi Hori, Tatsuya Tanigawa, Tadao Nagatsuma, and Antoine Rolland, APL Photonics (2023). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0146957 .