Aspects of the present disclosure describe optical phased array structures and devices in which hyperbolic phase envelopes are employed to create focusing and diverging emissions in one and two dimensions. Tuning the phase fronts moves focal point spot in depth and across the array. Grating emitters are also used to emit light upward (out of plane). Adjusting the period of the gratings along the light propagation direction results in focusing the light emitted from the gratings. Changes in the operating wavelengths employed moves the focal spot along the emitters.

A laser beam phase-modulation device, a laser beam steering device, and a laser beam steering system including the same are provided. The laser beam phase-modulation device includes a refractive index conversion layer having a refractive index that is changed according to an electrical signal applied thereto, the refractive index conversion layer including an upper surface on which the laser beam is incident and a lower surface opposite the upper surface, at least one antenna pattern embedded in the upper surface of the refractive index conversion layer, and a metal mirror layer provided under the lower surface of the refractive index conversion layer and configured to reflect the laser beam.

A method for operating a light microscope with structured illumination includes: providing illumination patterns by means of a structuring device which splits impinging light into at least three coherent beam parts which correspond to a −1., 0., and +1. diffraction orders of light; generating different phases of the illumination patterns by setting different phase values for the beam parts with phase shifters; and recording at least one microscope image for each of the illumination patterns and calculating a high resolution image from the microscope images. Phase shifters are provided not only for the beam parts of the −1. and +1. diffraction orders but also at least one phase shifter for the beam part of the 0. diffraction order. At least two different phase values Φ.sub.0 are set with the at least one phase shifter for the 0. diffraction order to provide a plurality of illumination patterns with different phases.

A geometric phase optical element and a three-dimensional display apparatus including the same are provided. The geometric phase optical element includes: a liquid crystal layer; a first electrode on a surface of the liquid crystal layer; and a second electrode on another surface of the liquid crystal layer, wherein, when no voltage is applied to the first and second electrodes, the liquid crystal layer is configured such that a phase difference according to an arrangement of the liquid crystal is π and light transmitted through the liquid crystal layer is diffracted by a first deflection angle, and when a first voltage that causes the phase difference according to the arrangement of the liquid crystal to become π/2 is applied to the first and second electrodes, the liquid crystal layer is configured such that the light transmitted through the liquid crystal layer is diffracted by a second deflection angle.

An active metasurface includes a number of periodically-repeated unit cells arranged on a substrate that each include a plasmonic waveguide shaped and sized to provide a cutoff mode that captures light of a target wavelength. The active metasurface includes an index modulation controller that controllably varies a voltage differential across each one of the periodically-repeated cells to change a phase of light incident on the metasurface.

A device includes a first substrate and a second substrate. The device also includes a birefringent medium layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. Orientations of directors of optically anisotropic molecules included in the birefringent medium layer varying periodically with an in-plane pitch tunable by an external field to adjust a diffraction angle of a light beam diffracted by the birefringent medium layer.

A spatial light modulator and a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) apparatus including the spatial light modulator are provided. The spatial light modulator includes: a first reflective layer; a second reflective layer comprising a plurality of grating structures spaced apart from each other; a resonance layer provided between the first reflective layer and the second reflective layer; and a filling layer having a heat transfer coefficient of about 100 mW/mK or less and being in contact with an upper surface of the resonance layer while surrounding at least one grating structure of the plurality of grating structures.

An apparatus comprises: a photonic integrated circuit comprising an optical phased array, a first focusing element at a fixed position relative to the optical phased array and configured to couple an optical beam to or from the optical phased array, and a second focusing element at a fixed position relative to the first focusing element and configured to couple the optical beam to or from the first focusing element. At least one of the first or second focusing element is externally coupled to the photonic integrated circuit, and the first and second focusing elements have different effective focal lengths.

Provided is an optical scanning device having a stable scanning direction corresponding to a temperature fluctuation of a semiconductor laser by being provided with a predetermined liquid crystal optical element utilizing a characteristic of a linear expansion coefficient of a support of a liquid crystal diffraction element. An optical scanning device includes: a light source; and a light deflection element, in which the light deflection element includes a support and an optically anisotropic layer which is a cured layer of a liquid crystal composition, an optical axis of a liquid crystal compound contained in the liquid crystal composition is parallel to a surface of the optically anisotropic layer, and the optically anisotropic layer has a liquid crystal alignment pattern which is arranged along at least one in-plane direction of the optically anisotropic layer and in which an orientation of the optical axis of the liquid crystal compound changes continuously and rotationally, and the support satisfies Conditional Expression (1): |dλ/(dt×λ0)−α|<2×10.sup.−4.

An example system for steering an electromagnetic (EM) beam includes a first continuous steering layer configured to steer an incident beam from an EM source to a first selected angle, and incident on a second continuous steering layer, and the second continuous steering layer configured to further steer the incident beam to a target steering angle value.