Polarization gratings for non-mechanical beam steering applications

Abstract

Over the last few years, Boulder Nonlinear Systems (BNS) and North Carolina State University (NCSU) have developed a new beam steering technique that uses a stack of thin liquid crystal polarization gratings (LCPGs) to efficiently and non-mechanically steer a beam over a large field-of-regard (FOR) in discrete steps. This technology has been successfully transferred to BNS through an exclusive license agreement, and a facility has been completed to enable commercial production of these devices. This paper describes the capabilities enabled by both the LCPGs and the successful transfer of this technology.