Eye and skin-safe 150 Mbps optical wireless communications over 1 m using UVC LEDs

Jonathan J.D. McKendry; Hichem Zimi; Yingjie Shao; Sujan Rajbhandari; Johannes Herrnsdorf; Martin D. Dawson

doi:10.1109/lpt.2025.3571619

Eye and skin-safe 150 Mbps optical wireless communications over 1 m using UVC LEDs

Jonathan J.D. McKendry, Hichem Zimi, Yingjie Shao, Sujan Rajbhandari, Johannes Herrnsdorf, Martin D. Dawson

Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We demonstrate an eye and skin-safe optical wireless communication link, at a transmission distance of 1 m, using ultraviolet-C (UVC) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting at 235 and 255 nm, with error-free data rates up to 150 Mbps. Irradiance levels at the receiver were maintained within eye and skin-safe exposure limits. Operating at these short wavelengths confers an improvement in received peak signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) compared to previous demonstrations around 270-280 nm, thanks to the higher permitted exposure limits at shorter UVC wavelengths.

Original language	English
Journal	IEEE Photonics Technology Letters
Early online date	19 May 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/lpt.2025.3571619
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 19 May 2025

Funding

This work was supported by the Future Telecoms Research Hub, Platform for Driving Ultimate Connectivity (TITAN), sponsored by the Department of Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under Grant EP/X04047X/1 and Grant EP/Y037243/1

Keywords

UVC
ultraviolet
light-emitting diodes
OFDM
optical wireless communications
OWC

Access to Document

10.1109/lpt.2025.3571619Licence: CC BY 4.0

McKendry-etal-IEEE-PTL-2025-Eye-and-skin-safe-150-Mbps-optical-wireless-communications-over-1-mFinal published version, 959 KBLicence: CC BY 4.0

1 Finished
1 Active

plaTform drIving The ultimAte coNnectivity (TITAN) (Future Communications Systems Hub)
Haas, H. (Principal Investigator), Dawson, M. (Co-investigator), Herrnsdorf, J. (Co-investigator) & Tavakkolnia, I. (Co-investigator)
EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)
1/05/23 → 30/04/26
Project: Research
TITAN Extension. Integration of high-speed micro-LED transmitters with reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (micro-LED RIS)
Herrnsdorf, J. (Principal Investigator) & Dawson, M. (Co-investigator)
EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)
1/01/24 → 31/03/25
Project: Research

Data for "Eye and skin-safe 150 Mbps Diffuse Optical Wireless Communications using UVC LEDs"
McKendry, J. (Creator), University of Strathclyde, 2 Jun 2025
DOI: 10.15129/90703a10-e7e2-4d6e-92db-1c10c1ff2d83
Dataset

Cite this

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title = "Eye and skin-safe 150 Mbps optical wireless communications over 1 m using UVC LEDs",

abstract = "We demonstrate an eye and skin-safe optical wireless communication link, at a transmission distance of 1 m, using ultraviolet-C (UVC) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting at 235 and 255 nm, with error-free data rates up to 150 Mbps. Irradiance levels at the receiver were maintained within eye and skin-safe exposure limits. Operating at these short wavelengths confers an improvement in received peak signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) compared to previous demonstrations around 270-280 nm, thanks to the higher permitted exposure limits at shorter UVC wavelengths.",

keywords = "UVC, ultraviolet, light-emitting diodes, OFDM, optical wireless communications, OWC",

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AU - McKendry, Jonathan J.D.

AU - Zimi, Hichem

AU - Shao, Yingjie

AU - Rajbhandari, Sujan

AU - Herrnsdorf, Johannes

AU - Dawson, Martin D.

PY - 2025/5/19

Y1 - 2025/5/19

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AB - We demonstrate an eye and skin-safe optical wireless communication link, at a transmission distance of 1 m, using ultraviolet-C (UVC) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting at 235 and 255 nm, with error-free data rates up to 150 Mbps. Irradiance levels at the receiver were maintained within eye and skin-safe exposure limits. Operating at these short wavelengths confers an improvement in received peak signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) compared to previous demonstrations around 270-280 nm, thanks to the higher permitted exposure limits at shorter UVC wavelengths.

KW - UVC

KW - ultraviolet

KW - light-emitting diodes

KW - OFDM

KW - optical wireless communications

KW - OWC

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DO - 10.1109/lpt.2025.3571619

M3 - Article

SN - 1041-1135

JO - IEEE Photonics Technology Letters

JF - IEEE Photonics Technology Letters

ER -

Eye and skin-safe 150 Mbps optical wireless communications over 1 m using UVC LEDs

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

plaTform drIving The ultimAte coNnectivity (TITAN) (Future Communications Systems Hub)

TITAN Extension. Integration of high-speed micro-LED transmitters with reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (micro-LED RIS)

Datasets

Data for "Eye and skin-safe 150 Mbps Diffuse Optical Wireless Communications using UVC LEDs"

Cite this