Semipolar GaN-based laser diodes for Gbit/s white lighting communication: devices to systems

We report the high-speed performance of semipolar GaN ridge laser diodes at 410 nm and the dynamic characteristics including differential gain, damping, and the intrinsic maximum bandwidth. To the best of our knowledge, the achieved modulation bandwidth of 6.8 GHz is the highest reported value in the blue-violet spectrum. The calculated differential gain of ~3 x 10^-16 cm², which is a critical factor in high-speed modulation, proved theoretical predictions of higher gain in semipolar GaN laser diodes than the conventional c-plane counterparts. In addition, we demonstrate the first novel white lighting communication system by using our near-ultraviolet (NUV) LDs and pumping red-, green-, and blueemitting phosphors. This system satisfies both purposes of high-speed communication and high-quality white light illumination. A high data rate of 1.5 Gbit/s using on-off keying (OOK) modulation together with a high color rendering index (CRI) of 80 has been measured.