Sunlight Communication System Built with Tunable 3D-Printed Optical Components
Journal
Photonics
Journal Volume
9
Journal Issue
3
Date Issued
2022
Author(s)
Abstract
In this paper, optical components are fabricated using a 3D printing method. The two following strategies are adopted: 1. combining 3D printing, “origami”, and metal coating/attaching to directly manufacture parabolic reflectors; 2. inserting mirrors into 3D-printed frames and assembling the mirrors to form a corner cube retroreflector (CCR). PDLC (polymer dispersed liquid crystal) films are integrated with these optical components to achieve voltage-controlled optical power modulation. The tunable CCR is used to construct a solar light communication system. Using sunlight directly as the light source for communication is rarely seen. In this paper, we demonstrate a proof of concept of sunlight communication, exploring a new route of solar energy utilization, in addition to electricity generation and heating. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Subjects
3D printing; free-space optical communication; polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC); solar light communication; visible light communication
Other Subjects
3D printing; free-space optical communication; polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC); solar light communication; visible light communication
Type
journal article