Fully Integrated Optical Beam Steering Chips

By Martijn Heck, associate professor, department of engineering, Aarhus University

Photonic integration has the potential to enable low-cost, low-SWaP beam shaping and steering for a wide range of military applications — but can the technology make the leap from the lab to the field?

Optical beam shaping is the generation of a narrow, low-divergence beam of laser light in the visible or infrared wavelength range. Optical beam steering is the dynamic pointing or scanning of such beams, preferably over a wide angle. Narrow, steerable beams of laser light have major potential in military applications.

One example of such an application is secure, free-space optical communication. Since the point-to-point beam path between sender and receiver can be narrow, there is a low probability of interception — hence, a low risk of eavesdropping. Infrared wavelengths are eye-safe, do not suffer from electromagnetic interference, and are part of the spectrum that is not regulated. Moreover, the bandwidth of such systems can be very large, far over 1 THz, depending on the implementation. Dynamic beam steering in the transmitter can track the movement, or displacement, of the receiver. Such free-space optical systems and networks also can be quickly deployed in disaster areas or war zones.