Hybrid III/V silicon photonic source with integrated 1D free-space beam steering

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Integrated Optics
• Semiconductor Devices

Background:

• Optical beam steering is crucial for applications like LiDAR and free-space optical communication.
• Current systems often face limitations in size, power consumption, and integration complexity.
• Developing compact, on-chip solutions for beam steering remains a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a chip-scale optical source with integrated beam steering capabilities.
• To leverage hybrid silicon photonics for a compact and efficient optical phased array.
• To achieve precise control over the optical beam's direction and width.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a hybrid silicon chip integrating a laser, waveguide splitter, amplifiers, phase modulators, and surface gratings.
• Implementation of an optical phased array architecture for beam steering.
• Tuning of the phased array to control the output beam's direction and characteristics.

Main Results:

• Successful demonstration of a chip-scale optical source with integrated beam steering.
• Achieved beam steering across a 12° field of view in one axis.
• Obtained a beam width of 1.8° (steered axis) × 0.6° (nonsteered axis) with 7 dB background suppression.

Conclusions:

• The hybrid silicon platform enables the creation of compact optical phased arrays for beam steering.
• The demonstrated device offers precise control over beam direction and width within a significant field of view.
• This technology holds promise for miniaturized optical systems requiring agile beam control.