High-performance optical phased array for LiDARs demonstrated by monolithic integration of polymer and SiN waveguides

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Materials Science
• Integrated Optics
• LiDAR Technology

Background:

• Optical phased arrays (OPAs) are crucial for LiDAR systems.
• Integrating dissimilar photonic materials presents challenges in achieving low loss and high performance.
• Silicon nitride (SiN) offers strong modal confinement and high optical power capacity, while polymers provide a superior thermo-optic effect.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel OPA beam scanner for LiDAR applications.
• To demonstrate the benefits of integrating polymer and SiN waveguides in a monolithic OPA.
• To achieve low-loss, high-performance beamforming and scanning.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a monolithic OPA device by integrating polymer and SiN waveguides.
• Characterization of the connection loss between the two waveguide types.
• Evaluation of the OPA device's optical throughput, beamforming efficiency, and scanning stability.

Main Results:

• Achieved a remarkably low connection loss of 0.15 dB between polymer and SiN waveguides.
• Demonstrated a low-loss monolithic OPA device with high optical throughput.
• Exhibited efficient beamforming and stable beam scanning capabilities.

Conclusions:

• The integration of polymer and SiN waveguides is a viable strategy for advanced photonic integrated circuits.
• This heterogeneous approach enables the development of high-performance OPA devices for LiDAR.
• The proposed OPA scanner shows significant potential for next-generation LiDAR systems.