Multi-Segmented Silicon Photonic Power Converters for Simultaneous Energy Harvesting and High-Speed Optical Wireless Communication

¹ Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Hyderabad.
² PG Department of Computer Applications, St. Joseph's College of Arts and Science (Autonomous), Cuddalore, Tamilnadu - 607001
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, NPR College of Engineering and technology, Natham, Dindigul, Tamilnadu
⁴ Sree SaraswathiThyagaraja College, Pollachi, Tamilnadu - 642107
⁵ Department of Medical Electronics, Sengunthar Engineering College, Thirunchengode, Tamilnadu, India.
⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rathinam Technical Campus, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India - 641021 Email ID: 1 krishnareddy. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 16 April 2026

Abstract

The energy-efficiency and speed of wireless communication, along with the rapid growth in the number of IoT devices, bring about the necessity to find the solutions that combine both power harvesting as well as optical reception to remove need to charge or replace batteries. Late-development has explored use solar cells receivers in high data detection. Photonic power converters silicon has6 times higher rates of electron movement than cadmium or silicon telluride cells and can be used in detecting data much faster and with higher power efficiency. However, they are limited junction capacitance raises with the active area, among data rate and power output. We design and test multi-segment Silicon based PPCs which can be used as energy collectors and data detectors. The capacitance and bandwidth is reduced by edge spacing active area at 2, 4 or 6 subcells, circle radius of 1, 1.5, or 2.08 mm, and increases the efficiency of light collection. The series-connected subcells are built on semi-insulating silicon substrate by etched trenches to provide isolation between subcells and minimizes the parasitic effects and increase absorption. The PPCs enabled a 1.5 m optical wireless communication, which is eye-safe, through adaptive bit and orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing and power allocation. The system was able to hit world record data of 3.5 Gbps, 4 times more than what had gone before it. The segmentation increases alignment sensitivity and the optical power beam is converted to 38.2% of the optical power by the device. The outcomeprovides new options to off-grid backhaul in future communication systems like 6G cellular systems.