An electronic device may include an antenna that conveys wireless signals at frequencies greater than 100 GHz. The antenna may include a radiating element coupled to a uni-travelling-carrier photodiode (UTC PD). An optical path may illuminate the UTC PD using a first optical local oscillator (LO) signal and a second optical LO signal. An optical phase shift may be applied to the first optical LO signal. A Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) may be interposed on the optical path. During signal transmission, the MZM may modulate wireless data onto the second optical LO signal while control circuitry applies a first bias voltage to the UTC PD. During signal reception, the control circuitry may apply a second bias voltage to the UTC PD that configures the UTC PD to convert received wireless signals into intermediate frequency signals and/or optical signals.

A high speed spatial light modulators are described. In one non-limiting example, an optical phased array structure comprises a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) that provides a light beam and a phase delay unit that includes a bi-layer photonic crystal slab. The bi-layer photonic crystal slab (PCS) is attached to the VCSEL and comprises two silicon PCS layers separated by a dielectric layer. The optical phased array structure is configured to control a direction of the light beam by a voltage applied to the phase delay unit. By incorporating a dispersive layer (e.g. graphene), the absorption of the structure can be modulated and accordingly the reflection of the surface can be modulated as well.

Examples of a three-dimensional (3D) optical sensing system for a vehicle include a modular architecture. Light can be transmitted to an optical signal processing module, which can include a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) that can create one or more signals with tailored amplitude, phase, and spectral characteristics. The plurality of optical signals processed by the optical signal processing module can be sent to beam steering units distributed around the vehicle. The steering units can direct a plurality of optical beams towards targets. The return optical signal can be detected by a receiver PIC including an array of sensors and using a direct intensity detection technique or a coherent detection technique. The return optical signal can be converted into an electrical signal by the array of sensors, which can then be processed by the electronic signal processing unit, and information about the location and speed of the targets can be quantified.

The present disclosure relates to display systems and, more particularly, to augmented reality display systems. A diffraction grating includes a plurality of different diffracting zones having a periodically repeating lateral dimension corresponding to a grating period adapted for light diffraction. The diffraction grating additionally includes a plurality of different liquid crystal layers corresponding to the different diffracting zones. The different liquid crystal layers have liquid crystal molecules that are aligned differently, such that the different diffracting zones have different optical properties associated with light diffraction.

An augmented reality (AR) device includes a light source; a light source-moving delta robot on which the light source is mounted, the light source-moving delta robot being configured to change a traveling path of light emitted from the light source by adjusting at least one of a position or a slope of the light source in a three-dimensional (3D) space based on a movement of the light source-moving delta robot; a display device configured to generate a first image by modulating the light emitted from the light source; and a combiner configured to combine the first image generated by the display device with a second image, which is different from the first image and is received from an external source, and output a combined image.

Provided are an optical modulation device, a method of operating the same, and an apparatus including the optical modulation device. The optical modulation device may include a mirror area, a nano-antenna area, and an active area located between the mirror area and the nano-antenna area, and a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of second electrodes for changing physical properties of the active area may intersect each other to form a cross-point array structure. The plurality of first electrodes may be included in the mirror area or may be provided separately from the mirror area. The plurality of second electrodes may be included in the nano-antenna area and may be provided separately from the nano-antenna area.

A LIDAR system includes a demultiplexer that separates an outgoing LIDAR signal into multiple LIDAR output signals that each carries a different channel and the different channels are each at a different wavelength. The system also includes a beam distributor that receives each of the LIDAR output signals. The beam distributor directs the received LIDAR output signals such that different LIDAR output signals travel away from the beam distributor in different directions.

Integrated Optical Phased Array device is a good potential solution for the solid-state LIDAR technology in the application of autonomous driving technique. However, some difficulties still limit the development of OPA devices, one of them is the conflict between the requirement of fewer units in the phase-tuning system and more elements in the emitting system. The present disclosure provides an approach of a Phase-Combining Waveguide Doubler (PCWD) to address this issue. This device can double the waveguide number without any phase mismatch. It enables the capability to control 2N−1 emitting elements with N phase shifters. The device is competitive to any grating coupler array based or end-fire based emitting method, which can potentially satisfy the requirement of a sub-wavelength pitch.

The invention relates to a diffractive optical element which comprises a first substrate and a second substrate, between which a liquid crystal layer is provided. The diffractive optical element also has strip-shaped electrodes on the first substrate and strip-shaped electrodes on the second substrate. The electrodes on the first substrate are arranged at an angle of greater than 50° relative to the electrodes on the second substrate. Furthermore, the electrodes on the first substrate and the electrodes on the second substrate are controllable in such a way that a defined out-of-plane field can be produced in a respective overlapping area of the electrodes on the first substrate with the electrodes on the second substrate. The diffractive optical element can be used in a display device for displaying preferably three-dimensional scenes.

The present invention relates to a light phased array antenna and a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) including the same. The present invention provides a light phased array antenna including: a light distributing unit configured to receive light from a laser generator and distribute the received light to a plurality of antenna element waveguides; a phase modulating unit configured to modulate a phase of light propagated through the antenna element waveguides by applying an electric field to the plurality of antenna element waveguides; and a light output unit configured to output light modulated in the phase modulating unit, in which the light distributing unit, the phase modulating unit, and the light output unit include a base part and an optical waveguide provided on the base part and including the plurality of antenna element waveguides, and a LiDAR including the same.