Rigorous investigation of the array-tilt aberration for hexagonal, optical phased arrays.

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Array Signal Processing

Background:

• Optical phased arrays (OPAs) are crucial for beam steering applications.
• Array-tilt aberration can degrade OPA performance.
• Accurate estimation of array tilt is essential for maintaining beam quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate array-tilt aberration in hexagonal OPAs.
• To develop novel, computationally efficient array-tilt estimation techniques.
• To validate the proposed methods with simulations and experiments.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical derivation of far-zone radiated field, array factor, and radiated power for a seven-element hexagonal array with tilt.
• Analytical treatment of correlation-based array-tilt estimators.
• Development and simulation of two novel array-tilt estimation techniques.
• Experimental validation of the new estimation methods.

Main Results:

• Physical insights into array-tilt aberration are provided.
• Two novel array-tilt estimation techniques are developed.
• The new techniques demonstrate significantly improved computational efficiency compared to traditional methods.
• Simulation and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Conclusions:

• The developed array-tilt estimation techniques are effective and computationally efficient for hexagonal OPAs.
• These methods offer a practical solution for mitigating array-tilt aberration in OPA systems.
• The findings contribute to the advancement of OPA technology and performance optimization.