A light ranging and detection system achieving reconfigurable very wide field of view, high sampling of spatial points per second with high optical power handling by using architecture to efficiently combine different wavelengths, time and frequency coding, and spatial selectivity. The transmitter is capable of generating multiple narrow beams, encoding different beams and transmitting in different spatial directions. The receiver can differentiate and extract range and reflectivity information of reflected beams. Three dimensional imaging of the environment is achieved by scanning the field of view of the transmitter. Control and signal processing electronic circuitries fabricated in a chip are packaged together with a chip containing the photonic components of the ranging system.

Aspects of the present disclosure describe systems, methods, and structures for aberration correction of optical phased arrays that employ a corrective optical path difference (OPD) in the near-field of an OPA to correct or cancel out aberrations in emitted beams of the OPA including those reaching far-field distances by generating a spatially-varying OPD across the aperture of the OPA that is substantially equal and opposite to an equivalent OPD of the aberration(s).

A reflective dynamic metasurface of an embodiment comprises a structure enabling phase modulation in each of pixels constituting at least a one-dimensional array. The metasurface includes: a laminated structure body having a transparent conductive layer and a dielectric layer; a first metal film on one surface of the laminated structure body; a second metal film on the other surface of the laminated structure body; and a drive circuit controlling voltage applied between the first and second metal films. The first and second metal films are arranged to sandwich the pixels. The first metal film is arranged to expose a pair of window regions in one pixel, and the second metal film includes partial metal films defining the shape of each pixel and separated from each other. The drive circuit individually controls the potential of each partial metal film, thereby modulating the phase of the input light for each pixel.

A pupil replication waveguide for a projector display includes a slab of transparent material for propagating display light in the slab via total internal reflection. A diffraction grating is supported by the slab. The diffraction grating includes a plurality of tapered slanted fringes in a substrate for out-coupling the display light from the slab by diffraction into a blazed diffraction order. A greater portion of the display light is out-coupled into the blazed diffraction order, and a smaller portion of the display light is out-coupled into a non-blazed diffraction order. The tapered fringes result in the duty cycle of the diffraction grating varying along the thickness direction of the diffraction grating, to facilitate suppressing the portion of the display light out-coupled into the non-blazed diffraction order.

A programmable two-dimensional simultaneous multi-beam optically operated phased array receiver chip is manufactured based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and indium phosphide (InP) semiconductor manufacturing processes, including the SiN process. The InP-based semiconductor is used for preparing a laser array chip and a semiconductor optical amplifier array chip, the SiN is used for preparing an optical power divider, and the SOI semiconductor is used for preparing a silicon optical modulator, a germanium-silicon detector, an optical wavelength multiplexer, a true delay line, and other passive optical devices. The whole integration of the receiver chip is realized through heterogeneous integration of the InP-based chip and the SOI-based chip. Simultaneous multi-beam scanning can be realized through peripheral circuit programming control. The chip not only can realize two-dimensional multi-beam scanning, but also has strong expansibility, such that the chip can be used for ultra-wideband high-capacity wireless communication and simultaneous multi-target radar recognition systems.

A device for deflecting laser beams, including at least one light source configured for generating laser beams, and at least one integrated optical circuit. The integrated optical circuit is situated on a substrate. The substrate has a first, second, and third main directions of extension. The first and second main directions of extension span a plane of the substrate surface. The third main direction of extension is orthogonal to the plane of the substrate surface. The integrated optical circuit includes at least one waveguide and at least one emission means. The emission means functions as an output of the integrated optical circuit and emits the laser beams along a first direction. A deflection means is provided, spaced apart from the substrate, along the first, second, or third main directions of extension. The deflection means deflects the laser beams along a second direction different from the first direction.

Provided is a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system including: a light source; a beam steering device configured to steer light emitted from the light source toward an object; a light detector configured to detect light reflected from the object; and a processor. The beam steering device may include an optical phased array, including a plurality of channels, and a signal input unit which applies a plurality of driving signals to the plurality of channels. The processor is configured to perform an optimization operation including analyzing the light detected by the light detector, calculating at least one correction value, and controlling the plurality of driving signals according to the at least one correction value, in order to correct an error of the beam steering device.

A beam steering device includes a substrate with a first refractive index that defines a cavity, an electroactive material in the cavity that has a variable refractive index, and two sets of opposing overlays. The overlays in one set of opposing overlays are parallel to each other, while the overlays in the other set are tilted with respect to each other. This allows one or more electric fields between the overlays to be used to align the electroactive material in two different directions to change its refractive index, allowing for a faster speed of beam steering through refraction than conventional approaches.

A liquid crystal (LC) beam steerer includes a waveguide apparatus with a waveguide having a high-index core in contact with a variable-index liquid crystal (LC) cladding, wherein a voltage applied to the LC cladding is effective to steer a beam of light passing through the high-index core. Measuring the bulk birefringence and/or the capacitance characteristics of the LC can facilitate beam steering.

An eye tracker comprises a light source; a detector; and first and second waveguides. The first waveguide comprises an input coupler for coupling source light into a waveguide path and a first grating for coupling light out of the waveguide path onto an eye. The second waveguide comprises a second grating for coupling light reflected from the eye into a waveguide path and an output coupler for coupling light out of the waveguide path onto the detector. The second grating is optically configured for imaging the eye onto the detector.