Beam steering devices including stacked liquid crystal polarization gratings and related methods of operation

A beam steering apparatus, comprising:

• a first beam steering stage comprising a first polarization grating having a first periodic uniaxial birefringence pattern and a polarization selector stacked thereon that is configured to provide a circularly polarized input beam incident on the first polarization grating;
• and
• a second beam steering stage stacked on the first polarization grating opposite the polarization selector and comprising a second polarization grating having a second periodic uniaxial birefringence pattern.

A beam steering apparatus, comprising:

• a first beam steering stage comprising a first polarization grating and a first polarization selector configured to be switched to provide a polarized input beam incident on the first polarization grating, wherein the first polarization grating is configured to alter a polarization of the input beam and alter a propagation angle thereof by a first angle to output a first beam;
• and
• a second beam steering stage arranged to receive the first beam from the first beam steering stage and comprising a second polarization grating configured to alter a polarization of the first beam and alter a propagation angle thereof by a second angle to output a second beam.