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arXiv · 2604.04005

Spatiotemporal flat optics for terabit-per-second single-channel data transmission

Wen-Jing Liu·Dong Zhao·Heng-Yi Wang·Jun He·Fang-Wen Sun·Ye Tian·Kun Huang
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Abstract

Exponential growth in global data traffic demands ever-increasing transmission rates--a pursuit fundamentally constrained by the physical limitations of digital-to-analog converters (DACs). Existing strategies to overcome this bottleneck, such as multi-DAC arrays and optical time-division multiplexing, inevitably introduce system complexity and coordination overhead. Here we demonstrate an all-optical spatiotemporal transmitter that generates controllable high-repetition information-carrying femtosecond pulses at the focus of a phase-modulated planar diffractive lens (PDL) through optical-path-induced spatial-to-temporal conversion. Each pulse serves as an information bit, encoding binary data via on-axis focal intensity states corresponding to '0' and '1', achieved by switching between topological and constant phase modulations. High experimental orthogonality between arbitrary bits enables nearly error-free transmission of 15X15-pixel grayscale (8-bit coding) and colour (9-bit coding) images at a record-high single-channel rate of approximately 3 terabits per second (Tbit/s). Free from electronic and coordination bottlenecks, this all-optical transmitter establishes a scalable high-speed single-channel pathway toward ultrahigh-capacity optical communication.

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Wen-Jing Liu, Dong Zhao, Heng-Yi Wang, Jun He, Fang-Wen Sun, Ye Tian, Kun Huang. 2026-04-05. Spatiotemporal flat optics for terabit-per-second single-channel data transmission. https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.04005

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