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High-speed rotary communication links exhibit high complexity and require challenging assembly tolerances. This article investigates the use of optical wireless communications (OWC) for on-axis rotary communication scenarios. First, OWC is compared with other state-of-the-art technologies. Different realization approaches for bidirectional, full-duplex links are discussed. For the most promising approach, a monolithic hybrid transmitter-receiver lens is designed by ray mapping methodology. Ray tracing simulations are used to study the alignment-depended receiver power level and to determine the effect of optical crosstalk. Over a distance of <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <mn>12.5</mn> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mi mathvariant="normal">m</mi> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula><inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mi mathvariant="normal">m</mi> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula>, the lens achieves an optical power level at the receiver of <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <mo>&#8722;</mo> <mn>16.2</mn> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mi>dBm</mi> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> to <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <mo>&#8722;</mo> <mn>8.7</mn> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mi>dBm</mi> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> even for misalignments up to 3 <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <mi mathvariant="normal">m</mi> <mi mathvariant="normal">m</mi> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula>.