Array Design for High-Resolution Beam Steering in Optical Phased Arrays Applications

Abstract

In Optical Phased Array (OPA) designs, there are often compromises between having a high beam resolution and a large steering range. Achieving an optimized result simultaneously is seldom found. The main cause of this problem are the spacing constraints required for routing and element placements. A large element spacing in an array leads to the appearance of gratings lobes in the far field radiation pattern which are replicas of the main signal. Consequently, the main signal is indistinguishable from the grating lobes. The main goal of this thesis is to investigate new array design methods which can enhance the resolution and steering range of the OPA. The first array design we investigated was a planar sub-array design which undergoes a rotation method that rotates each sub-array, changing the location of the grating lobes. The second array design we investigated was a circular sub-array design which also undergoes rotation.