Photonic Integrated Circuit with A Random Sparse Optical Phased Array

A photonic integrated system comprising:

• an electromagnetic radiation source;
• and
• a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) comprising:
• a substrate;
• a waveguide at least partially supported by the substrate, the waveguide being in communication with at least one of an electromagnetic radiation source and a receiver, the waveguide being configured to facilitate the propagation of optical signal beams;
• an optical phased array (OPA) comprising a plurality of array elements, each of the plurality of array elements comprising:
• an optical antenna;
• and
• an optical phase modulator associated with the optical antenna, and operable to modulate the optical signal beams within a segment of the waveguide in communication with the optical antenna;
• wherein at least some array elements of the plurality of array elements are optically coupled to the waveguide at aperiodic locations on the substrate.

A method of configuring a photonic integrated circuit (PIC), the method comprising:

• configuring the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) to include a substrate;
• configuring the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) to include a waveguide at least partially supported by the substrate, the waveguide being in communication with at least one of an electromagnetic radiation source and a receiver, the waveguide being configured to facilitate the propagation of optical signal beams;
• configuring the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) to include an optical phased array (OPA) comprising a plurality of array elements, each of the plurality of array elements comprising:
• an optical antenna;
• and
• an optical phase modulator associated with the optical antenna, and operable to modulate the optical signal beams within a segment of the waveguide in communication with the optical antenna;
• and
• configuring at least some array elements of the plurality of array elements to be optically coupled to the waveguide wherein locations of at least some of the plurality of array elements are aperiodic in one or more directions on the substrate.