Simulation of beam steering control in arrayed liquid prisms system based on electrowetting-on-dielectric

Abstract

In this paper, an arrayed liquid prisms system based on electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) is proposed to modulate the three-dimensional beam steering control. The relationships between beam steering control range, electrowetting contact angle, and liquid refractive index are derived. COMSOL is employed to demonstrate the beam steering control properties of the electrowetting-based arrayed liquid prisms when bias voltages are applied. The influence of contact angle, liquid refractive index, and interval between adjacent prisms are discussed. The results show that the beam steering control performance of the system will be greatly improved, and the range of beam steering angle is −20° to 20° by selecting optimum combinations of liquids and rational interval between adjacent prisms. The arrayed liquid prisms system can succeed to achieve continuous control of beam steering in a conical region with an apex angle of 40°, and the vertex of the circular cone is located at the 15.02 mm in the z-axis. The proposed system will promote the development of non-mechanical beam steering technology and have a wide range of applications.