1 电子科技大学光电科学与工程学院，四川 成都 610054
2 电子科技大学物理学院，四川 成都 610054
天线通光口径是液晶光学相控阵的重要技术指标，本文在多子阵并行驱动和两级器件级联方法(PAPA)的基础上，提出改进型的i-PAPA 方法，通过对COM 电极进行分区域驱动，在单个相控阵天线上实现大口径相控光束控制，具备单器件工作、插损低等优点。通过数值仿真分析，结果表明：相控阵天线后的近场相位分布连续；当指向角度在0°到+6°范围内，远场衍射效率和指向角度的数值关系呈现平滑单调下降，衍射效率均大于48%；当指向角度在0°到+3°范围内，衍射效率均大于80%。
光学相控阵 液晶 大口径 衍射效率 optical phased array liquid crystal large diameter diffraction efficiency
Author Affiliations
Abstract
1 School of Physical Electronics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
2 School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
3 Research Institute of Electronic Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
4 National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Space Microwave, Xi’an 710100, China
A polarization-independent nonmechanical laser beam steering scheme is proposed to realize continuous two-dimensional (2D) scanning with high efficiency, where the core components are two polarization-dependent devices, which are called liquid crystal optical phased arrays (LC-OPAs). These two one-dimensional (1D) devices are orthogonally cascaded to work on the state of azimuthal and elevation steering, respectively. Properties of polarization independence as well as 2D beam steering are mathematically and experimentally verified with a good agreement. Based on the experimental setup, linearly polarized beams with different polarization angles are steered with high accuracy. The measured angular deviations are less than 5 μrad, which is on the same order of the accuracy of the measurement system. This polarization-independent 2D laser beam steering scheme has potential application for nonmechanical laser communication, lidar, and other LC-based systems.
160.3710 Liquid crystals 120.4820 Optical systems 230.3720 Liquid-crystal devices Chinese Optics Letters
2017, 15(10): 101601
