Liquid-cladded optical phased array for a single-wavelength beam steering

Binghui Li, Caiming Sun, Hongjie Wang, Zhenmin Chen, Xiaomin Nie, Shupeng Deng, Lesi Yang, Aidong Zhang

2021Optics Letters32 citationsDOI

Abstract

We report a simple concept to implement a single-wavelength beam steering based on a liquid-cladded one-dimensional (1D) optical phased array (OPA). The beam steering was realized by modifying the waveguide mode effective index through replacing the liquid upper claddings. A prototype of a 32-channel liquid-cladded OPA was fabricated and characterized. Owing to the high refractive index range of liquids ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mo>></mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>0.625</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> ), a maximum steering angle of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mo>></mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> was achieved with the liquid range from 1.0 to 1.63 at a wavelength of 940 nm. Moreover, the liquid-cladded OPA reveals a quasi-continuous beam steering range of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mo>></mml:mo> </mml:mrow> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>29</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> by combining the liquid cladding tuning and discrete wavelength tuning of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mi>λ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>785</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mspace width="thickmathspace"/> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">n</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">m</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> , 852 nm, and 940 nm. Further integration with optofluidic systems offers the OPA potential for low power consumption and all-fluidic beam steering operating at a single wavelength.

Topics & Concepts

OpticsBeam steeringPhased-array opticsPhased arrayMaterials scienceWavelengthBeam (structure)Laser beamsLight beamPhysicsLaserTelecommunicationsComputer scienceAntenna (radio)Photonic and Optical DevicesSemiconductor Lasers and Optical DevicesAdvanced Fiber Optic Sensors