Fast beam steering with an optical phased array

Abstract

Optical phased arrays (OPAs) are devices that use the coherence of light to control the interference pattern in the far field, which enables them to steer a laser beam with no moving parts. As such, OPAs have potential applications in laser communications, target acquisition and tracking, metrology, and directed energy. In this Letter, we present a control architecture for an actively phase-locked OPA, capable of steering a laser beam at speeds limited by the actuation bandwidth of electro-optic modulators. The system achieved an output phase stability of 𝜆/770 and steering speeds up to 1 MHz. The digital control architecture can be extended to GHz steering speeds, is readily scalable to hundreds of emitters, and is compatible with high-power arrays.