High-Speed Laser-to-Microwave Wireless Transmissions through Dual-Band Time-Domain Optoelectronic Metasurface

Radio and optical signals are two different carriers with their own distinctive features, and their efficient conversion is pivotal to achieve better performance and wider applications in information transmission. Unlike the conventional radio-over-fiber system based on fiber and circuit technologies, herein a laser-to-microwave wireless transmission scheme is proposed by dual-band time-domain optoelectronic metasurface. By integrating the high-speed positive-intrinsic-negative diodes and meticulously designed photoelectric circuit into the metasurface, the amplitude and phase of the reflected microwaves at different frequency bands can be modulated quickly by laser intensities. Therefore, the on–off keying (OOK) laser can be modulated directly onto the phase shift keying (PSK) and amplitude shift keying (ASK) microwaves on one platform, achieving seamless laser-to-microwave transmissions. As a demonstration, a metasurface-based hybrid wireless communication system is constructed, in which the data can be transmitted through OOK laser signal and received through ASK and PSK microwave signals. Based on the basic signal modulation format, 2.5 Mbps communication rate can be achieved over the hybrid link. This work will be of great benefit to design novel spatial photoelectric devices and wireless communication systems.