2017 IEEE/CIC International Conference on Communications in China (ICCC Workshops)

Monolithic III-nitride photonic circuit for multifunctional visible light communication

Yuan Jiang, Zheng Shi, Xumin Gao, Jialei Yuan, Shuai Zhang and Yongjin Wang

Peter Grünberg Research Centre, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210003, China

Abstract—Nitride semiconductor materials inherently have the intriguing functionalities of simultaneous emission,
transmission and photodetection, which enable the photonic integration of emitter, waveguide, modulator and
photodiode on a single chip [1-3]. In particular, InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well (MQW) diodes exhibit a
simultaneous light-emitting light-detecting function, endowing the MQW-diode with the capability of producing
transmitter and receiver using same fabrication procedure for visible light communication. Both transmitter and
receiver share the identical InGaN/GaN MQW active region. To validate the device concept, we propose a wafer-level
procedure for the fabrication of monolithic III-nitride photonic circuit on an III-nitride-on-silicon platform for
multifunctional visible light communication. Epitaxial films are grown on (111) silicon substrates with intermediate
Al-composition step-graded buffer layers, and membrane-type monolithic III-nitride photonic circuit is obtained by a
combination of silicon removal and III-nitride film backside thinning. Monolithic III-nitride photonic circuit of
emitter, waveguide and photodiode forms an in-plane visible light communication system [4], and the out-of-plane
light emission is used for building a free-space visible light communication system [5]. The III-nitride photonic circuit
experimentally demonstrates a data transmission over 100 Mb/s on a wire-bonded chip. Moreover, a full-duplex light
communication is demonstrated by utilizing simultaneous light-emitting light-detecting function of the MQW-diode,
and the self-interference cancellation method is used to decode the superimposed signals. These results are promising
for the development of monolithic III-nitride photonic circuit for diverse applications in visible light communication,
optical sensor and intelligent displays.

Keywords—InGaN/GaN MQW-diode, visible light communication, full-duplex light communication, III-nitride-on-

silicon platform.

REFERENCES
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vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 3515-3520, May. 2014.
[2] Y. J. Wang et al., “On-chip photonic system using suspended p-n junction InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells device and
multiple waveguides,”Applied Phys. Lett., vol. 108, no. 16, pp. 966-968, 2016.
[3] W. Yuan et al., “Suspended waveguide photodetector featuring p-n junction InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells,” Opt.
Mater. Express, vol. 6, no. 7, pp. 2366, 2016.
[4] W. Cai et al., “ On-chip integration of suspended InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well devices with versatile
functionalities,” Opt. Express, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 6004-6010, 2016.

978-1-5386-6403-2/17/$31.00
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 2017 IEEE/CIC International Conference on Communications in China (ICCC Workshops)

[5] Y. C. Yang et al., “On-Chip Integration Operating Under the Extraordinary Light Detection Mode of an InGaN/GaN
Diode,” IEEE Photonic Tech. L., vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 446-449, Mar. 2017.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Instituto Tecnologico Metropolitano ITM. Downloaded on August 26,2020 at 18:40:36 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.