Long-Range LiDAR and Free-Space Data Communication With High-Performance Optical Phased Arrays

By Christopher V. Poulton, Matthew J. Byrd, P. Russo, Erman Timurdogan, Murshed Khandaker, D. Vermeulen, M. Watts. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 2019

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We present high-performance integrated optical phased arrays along with first-of-their-kind light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and free-space data communication demonstrators. First, record-performance optical phased array components are shown with low-power phase shifters and high-directionality waveguide grating antennas. Then, one-dimensional (1-D) 512-element optical phased arrays are demonstrated with record low-power operation (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$< $</tex-math></inline-formula>1 mW total), large steering ranges, and high-speed two-dimensional (2-D) beam steering (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$< $</tex-math></inline-formula>30 <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu$</tex-math></inline-formula>s phase shifter time constant). Next, by utilizing optical phased arrays, we show coherent 2-D solid-state LiDAR on diffusive targets with simultaneous velocity extraction at a range of nearly 200 m. In addition, the first demonstration of 3-D coherent LiDAR with optical phased arrays is presented with raster-scanning arrays. Finally, lens-free chip-to-chip free-space optical communication links up to 50 m are shown, including a demonstration of a steerable transmitter to multiple optical phased array receivers at a 1 Gb/s data rate. This paper shows the most advanced silicon photonics solid-state beam steering to date with relevant demonstrators in practical applications.

Subfields: Biomedical Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Instrumentation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b4296584f1ad6c86fff3928b1c674e5128528e6e