Efficient White-Light Visible Light Communication with Novel Optical Antennas Based on Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Optical Antennas (OAs) based on Fluorescent Concentrators (FCs) promise a revolution in the deployment of Visible Light Communication (VLC) and Optical Wireless Communication (OWC), due to their inherent advantages over conventional receivers in terms of exceedingly larger field of view (FoV) and optical gain (OG). Whilst FC-based OAs have been demonstrated in VLC applications in a wealth of works embedding monochromatic UV and Blue LED sources, a detailed study demonstrating the performances of OA in white-light VLC (WLC) applications, which is at the basis of the deployment of VLC for Internet of Things (IoT), 6G and pervasive networks, is still lacking. In our work we present and test two 50 mm x 50 mm OAs for WLC, based on two of the most effective fluorophores (Lumogen Red 305 F and DQ1, respectively) used in Luminescent Solar Concentrator (LSC) applications. We perform a detailed characterization of intrinsic and VLC performances, comparing the results with a novel Monte Carlo model accurately describing the photon conversion and propagation processes. Whilst DQ1 represents the most suited solution for high-speed VLC with UV/blue LEDs, our results highlight excellent performances of Lumogen-based OA in white-light settings, outpacing the performances of ordinary photodiode-based receivers. Our results pave the way towards the full-fledged deployment of VLC in IoT applications, where the availability of detectors with large-area, wide FoV and enhanced OG covering the white LEDs emission is a central element.