US 10,591,802 B2Granted

On-chip optical phased array using a serial grating antenna design

AssigneeLitexel Inc.

InventorsXiaochen Sun, Lingxuan Zhang, Ningning Feng

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Abstract

An on-chip optical phased array includes an array of photonic antenna units connected in series by photonic waveguides and arranged in a two-dimensional array to produce complex still and scanning optical patterns through optical interference effect. Each antenna unit includes an output photonic antenna (e.g. grating antenna), and a waveguide phase shifter for adjusting the optical phase of the optical beam output by the antenna unit. The grating antenna and the waveguide phase shifter are formed in the same optical wave guiding layer which includes a core layer between two cladding layers. The grating antennas may be a shallow-etched structure or a deep-etched edge-modulated grating. The optical phased array, including the array of photonic antenna units and the electrodes that connect and provide electrical power to them, can be made on a single chip of silicon using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) or compatible fabrication processes.

Claims8

Dependent claims

An on-chip optical phased array for forming far field optical patterns from an input coherent light source, comprising:

a substrate;
a plurality of antenna units formed on the substrate, each antenna unit including:
a grating antenna, formed in an optical wave guiding layer, configured to emit a pre-defined portion of an input light out of a plane of the optical wave guiding layer and to transmit remaining input light which passes through the grating antenna;
a waveguide phase shifter, formed in the optical wave guiding layer, configured to adjust an optical phase and a field strength of the antenna unit by an applied electrical power;
and
an optical waveguide, formed in the optical wave guiding layer, which connects the grating antenna and the waveguide phase shifter via direct butt coupling;
and
a plurality of additional optical waveguides including a plurality of optical waveguide bends, formed in the optical wave guiding layer, which serially connect the plurality of antenna units in a serpentine shape, wherein the remaining input light which passes through one grating antenna is transmitted to another antenna unit by one of the additional optical waveguides, wherein the plurality of grating antennas are arranged in a two-dimensional array with equal or unequal distances between them;
and
wherein the emitted light from the plurality of grating antennas forms a far field optical pattern based on optical interference.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.