Acousto-optic liquid-crystal analog beam former for phased-array antennas

A compact phased-array antenna acousto-optic beam former with element-level analog phase (0-2π) and amplitude control using nematic-liquid-crystal display-type technology is experimentally demonstrated. Measurements indicate > 6-bit phase control and 52.6 dB of amplitude-attenuation control. High-quality error calibration and antenna sidelobe-level control is possible with this low-control-power analog beam former. Optical system options using rf Bragg cells or wideband Bragg cells are discussed, with the rf design being the current preferred approach. Transmit-receive beam forming based on frequency upconversion-downconversion by electronic mixing is introduced for the rf Bragg-cell beam former, and comparisons with digital beam forming are highlighted. A millimeter-wave signal generation and control optical architecture is described.