Dispersive OPA at Very Near-Infrared Wavelengths

Abstract

Integrated optical phased arrays (OPAs) have recently attracted much attention as they enable beam steering with low cost, size, weight, and power compared to bulk optics systems using moving parts [1]. They are ideal for various applications such as sensing, imaging, display technology and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). Several integrated OPAs have been recently demonstrated for beam steering, either by wavelength dispersion or active phase control, or a combination of both [2-3]. In this work, we demonstrate a serpentine-based 16-element OPA [4] at very near-IR wavelengths that leverage Silicon Nitride (SiN) waveguide feeding. The 2D calibration-free [5] beam steering has been achieved in the dispersive OPA architecture by just a laser wavelength sweep [6]. This kind of architecture enables low phase errors, low power, compactness and scalability, and maximum usage of the emission area for future on-chip OPAs at these wavelengths.