Performance criteria and limitations of electrooptic waveguide array deflectors

Fraunhofer diffraction theory was used to obtain the far-field output intensity distributions of various electrooptic waveguide deflectors. The behavior of single prism elements, arrays of identical or phase-staggered prism elements, and arrays of channel waveguide elements is described by the same analytic technique. The optical beam deflection can be continuous or discontinuous. Electrode capacitances are determined. The capabilities of different deflectors are assessed by comparing number of resolvable spots, power, bandwidth, and cross talk. Comparisons are made with experimental data. Simple phase distributions are demonstrated to be useful for determining most deflection parameters, including the power per unit bandwidth.