Micro- and nano-photonic technologies for optical wireless sensors

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Optical fibre communications has demonstrated unprecedented capabilities for rapid data transmission, as there exists incredible high-speed and broadband potential for optical data carriers. To-date, the vast majority of deployed optical communication devices and implementations have focused on point-to-point fibre-based links, and the proposed research program will broaden the use of such light-based communication systems toward new optical wireless formats. The proposed research program investigates optical wireless technologies for use in distributed free-space optical systems. Such implementations bring together the high-speed potential of optical communications with the practicality of wireless mobility. The relevant challenges for these new wireless technologies are markedly different than that of fibre-based systems, as three-dimensional functionality and mobility are critical operation considerations. The proposed research will develop new materials, devices and system implementations to accommodate the multi-directionality and mobility needs of such future optical wireless systems and ultimately foster support for a growing list of Canadian industry collaborators. The proposed research on materials, devices and system implementations will merge over the course of the proposed five-year program. New optoelectronic materials will be developed as nanocomposite polymer-semiconductor assemblies, and these materials will be molded into device forms that offer enhanced directionality and high-speed operation. Preliminary research in our Applied Micro and Nanosystems Facility and our Integrated Optics Laboratory has initiated the relevant fabrication processes (electro-dispensing) and characterization tools (ultrafast refractometry) for such developments. The proposed research will unite these capabilities in a series of new bi-directional optical wireless system implementations, with prototype validation in our optical wireless test-facility. The complete research program will ultimately play an important role in the promotion of this emerging optical wireless frontier.