A light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system is provided including a beam steering device configured to modulate a phase of light from a light source and to output light in a plurality of directions at the same time, a receiver including a plurality of light detection elements configured to receive light that has been irradiated onto an object in the plurality of directions from the beam steering device and reflected from the object, and a processor configured to analyze position-specific distribution and/or time-specific distribution of light received by the receiver and to individually process the light lights irradiated onto the object in the plurality of directions.

Provided are an optical sensing system and an optical apparatus including the same. The optical sensing system may include a light output part configured to emit a laser beam to an object, and a sensing part configured to sense a laser beam emitted from the light output part and reflected from the object. The sensing part may include a photodetector and the active optical device located on an optical path between the photodetector and the object. The active optical device may actively control an orientation of a laser beam passing therethrough and may include a material layer having a refractive index which is changeable by application of an electrical signal.

Speckle reduction in photonic phased array structures can be achieved using a receiver aperture that is configured to provide optical energy through portions of at least one optical network. The optical network is in communication with phase-controlled elements of at least one array of phase-controlled elements. Optical energy is coupled through a first portion of the optical network to a first optical detector in a detector structure, and optical energy is coupled through a second portion of the optical network to a second optical detector in the detector structure different from the first optical detector in the detector structure.

A prism lens includes a prism lens body and at least one cylindrical lens. The prism lens body has a set of facing planes a mutual distance of which decreases or increases from one end to another end. The cylindrical lens is integral to at least one plane of the set of planes. The cylindrical lens is formed such that a cross section shape thereof at a plane perpendicular to a direction of a slope of a plane of the prism lens body having the cylindrical lens thereon with respect to the other plane of the set of planes has a certain curved shape to be convex against the plane having the cylindrical lens thereon.

An afocal sensor assembly detects a light beam with an aberrated wavefront. The afocal sensor assembly is configured to provide sorted four-dimensional (4D) light field information regarding the light beam, for example, via one or more plenoptic images. Based on the 4D light field information, a lossy reconstruction of an aberrated wavefront for one or more actuators of an adaptive optics (AO) device is performed. The AO device can be controlled based on the lossy reconstruction to correct the wavefront of the light beam. In some embodiments, the aberrated wavefront is due to passage of the light beam through atmospheric turbulence, and the lossy reconstruction and correction using the AO device is performed in less than 1.0 ms. The lossy reconstruction of the aberrated wavefront can have a phase accuracy in a range of λ/2 to λ/30.

A WSS device in which a VIPA is used as a spectral disperser. In an example embodiment, the VIPA is configured to produce two or more diffraction orders on the LCOS micro-display of the WSS device. The LCOS micro-display is configurable to independently process light corresponding to different diffraction orders. For example, the LCOS micro-display may be used to implement: (i) optical-signal switching by applying different relative phase shifts to light of different diffraction orders to cause constructive interference at a selected one of the optical ports of the WSS device; (ii) optical-signal splitting by steering light of different diffraction orders to at least two different selected optical ports of the WSS device; and (iii) controllable optical-signal attenuation by applying different relative phase shifts to different diffraction orders to control the relative degree of constructive and destructive interference at a selected one of the optical ports of the WSS device.

Systems and methods are described for providing a 3D display, such as a light-field display. In some embodiments, a display device includes a light-emitting layer that includes a plurality of separately-controllable pixels. A lens structure overlays the light-emitting layer. The lens structure includes an array of collimating optical elements. A phase-modifying layer is positioned between the light emitting layer and the lens structure. The pixels of the light emitting layer are used in generating spatial emission patterns that work in unison with the phase-modifying layer in order to generate beams of light through the collimating optical elements with extended focus depths. Multiple beams are used to generate voxels at various distances from the display surface with the correct eye convergence for the viewer. Beams with extended focus depths may be used to generate the correct eye retinal focus cues.

An apparatus includes: an optical phased array (e.g., on a photonic integrated circuit), a focusing element, which can be at a fixed position relative to the optical phased array and configured to receive an optical beam from the optical phased array, and a steering element, which can be at a fixed position relative to the focusing element and configured to transmit the optical beam received from the focusing element. In some implementations, at least one of the focusing element or the steering element is externally coupled to the photonic integrated circuit.

A device system for constituting a 3D image sensor based on optical phased array is provided. The device system includes an optical modulator that is integrated on the same photonic integrated circuit (PIC) chip as a laser diode array with different output wavelengths and a multiplexer for transmitting an optical wave having a wavelength selected from the laser diode array to an optical waveguide and modulates the optical wave into a specific optical signal, an optical phased array that radiates the optical signal received via an optical switch to the free space using a tunable transmit and receive (TRx) antenna array, and a photodetector that converts an Rx optical signal received by a Tx optical signal transmitted via the optical phased array into an electrical signal.

An electromagnetic tracking system includes a handheld controller including a first phased array element characterized by a first phase and a second phased array element characterized by a second phase different than the first phase. The first phased array element and the second phased array element are configured to generate a steerable electromagnetic beam characterized by an electromagnetic field pattern. The electromagnetic tracking system also includes a head mounted augmented reality display including an electromagnetic sensor configured to sense the electromagnetic field pattern.