Reconfigurable half-wavelength emission optical phased array

Abstract

The invention provides a reconfigurable half-wavelength emission optical phased array. The reconfigurable half-wavelength emission optical phased array comprises a cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch, a parallel modulator array and a dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array combined with an artificial standard field. The dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array combined with the artificial standard field comprises a sine bending waveguide array with the width changing alternately. According to the invention, state switching among multiple paths of light output is realized through an electric modulation / thermal modulation optical switch based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer structure, a germanium ion doped non-volatile modulation optical switch based on the same structure, or a phase change material non-volatile modulation optical switch based on the same structure; selection and quantity control of working light path channels are realized, and finally light field regulation and control of a far field are realized; by combining a dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array of an artificial standard field, far-field 180-degree aliasing-free scanning is realized, and the light spot size, the view field range and the resolution are controllable.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of optoelectronic devices, and in particular to a reconfigurable half-wavelength emission optical phased array. Background Art

[0002] Optical phased array is a promising beam shaping technology that can precisely control the direction of the main lobe of a beam by adjusting the phase of each outgoing wave. This technology is of great significance in modern optical applications, especially in the fields of communication, imaging and sensing. Compared with traditional beam shaping methods, optical phased array has many advantages, including low cost, small size, high resolution, high accuracy and fast response speed. These characteristics make optical phased array perform well in dynamic environments.

[0003] The existing Chinese patent with publication number CN117581154A discloses an integrated optical phased array (OPA) with a large field of view (FOV) (possibly up to 180 degrees FOV). One embodiment relates to a chip-integrated optical phased array, comprising: a phase shifter array having N input optical channels and configured to tune the phases of the N input optical channels; a beam splitter configured to split light from a light source into the N input channels of the phase shifter array; a waveguide array configured to squeeze the phase-tuned N optical channels to a narrow-pitch output end so that light from the N channels interferes to form a plane wave at the output end; and a planar emitting surface configured to convert the plane wave into an amount of light emission leaving the chip with a predetermined field of view (FOV).

[0004] However, current optical phased array systems still have certain limitations in terms of scanning range. Typically, the scanning range is only a few dozen degrees, and the resolution and spot size are constant. This limitation is particularly prominent in some applications that require all-round control, such as in autonomous driving, robot vision, and high-precision measurement. Therefore, in order to overcome this limitation, it is urgent to conduct more in-depth research and development and explore new design concepts and preparation methods.

[0005] In this context, the rapid development of reconfigurable integrated photonics has provided new possibilities for beam shaping technology. Compared with traditional devices, reconfigurable photonic devices show great advantages and potential in terms of speed, size, robustness and conversion efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a reconfigurable half-wavelength emission optical phased array. Through flexible beam control and highly integrated design, reconfigurable integrated photonics can achieve more flexible and efficient beam shaping and broaden the application scope of optical phased arrays. Summary of the invention

[0006] In view of the defects in the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a reconfigurable half-wavelength transmitting optical phased array.

[0007] A reconfigurable half-wavelength emission optical phased array provided by the present invention comprises: a cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch, a parallel modulator array, and a dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array combined with an artificial gauge field;

[0008] The cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch includes a multi-layer cascaded cascade optical switch unit, and any of the cascaded optical switch units includes: a 1×2 multimode interference coupler, an upper arm phase modulation area, a lower arm phase modulation area, and a 2×2 multimode interference coupler, wherein the 1×2 multimode interference coupler is used to distribute an input optical signal to two output channels, the upper arm phase modulation area and the lower arm phase modulation area are used to adjust the phase of the optical signal, and the 2×2 multimode interference coupler realizes optical path state switching through a phase difference between two arms;

[0009] The multiple optical signals output by the cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch are respectively input to the input end of the parallel modulator array, and the multiple output ends of the parallel modulator array are respectively connected to the input end of the dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array combined with an artificial gauge field;

[0010] The dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array combined with an artificial gauge field comprises a sinusoidal curved waveguide array with alternately wide and narrow widths.

[0011] Preferably, the upper arm phase modulation region and the lower arm phase modulation region comprise the same structure, including an ion-doped silicon-based electro-optical phase modulation region, a silicon-based thermo-optical phase modulation region, a silicon-based germanium ion-doped phase modulation region or a silicon-based deposited phase change material phase modulation region.

[0012] Preferably, the upper arm phase modulation region includes a silicon-based electro-optical phase modulation region based on L-type ion doping, including: a P-type heavily doped region, an N-type heavily doped region, a P-type lightly doped region, an N-type lightly doped region, a first modulation electrode, a second modulation electrode, a silicon dioxide upper cladding, a silicon dioxide lower cladding and a silicon substrate, an L-type carrier depletion junction is formed between the P-type lightly doped region and the N-type lightly doped region, and a modulated electrical signal is applied to the low-resistance P-type heavily doped region and the N-type heavily doped region through the first electrode and the second electrode, respectively, to adjust the carrier concentration of the junction formed by the P-type lightly doped region and the N-type lightly doped region, thereby changing the effective refractive index of the optical signal in the waveguide.

[0013] Preferably, the upper arm phase modulation region includes a silicon-based electro-optical phase modulation region based on U-type ion doping, including: a P-type heavily doped region, an N-type heavily doped region, a P-type lightly doped region, an N-type lightly doped region, a first modulation electrode, a second modulation electrode, a silicon dioxide upper cladding, a silicon dioxide lower cladding and a silicon substrate, a U-shaped carrier depletion junction is formed between the P-type lightly doped region and the N-type lightly doped region, and a modulated electrical signal is applied to the low-resistance P-type heavily doped region and the N-type heavily doped region through the first electrode and the second electrode, respectively, to adjust the carrier concentration of the junction formed by the P-type lightly doped region and the N-type lightly doped region, thereby changing the effective refractive index of the optical signal in the waveguide.

[0014] Preferably, the upper arm phase modulation region includes a phase modulation region based on thermo-optical effect, including: a third modulation electrode, a fourth modulation electrode, a thermoelectrode, a second silicon dioxide upper cladding, a silicon waveguide, a second silicon dioxide lower cladding and a second silicon substrate. The modulated electrical signal is applied to the thermoelectrode through the third modulation electrode and the fourth modulation electrode. The thermoelectrode generates a thermal effect to change the effective refractive index and phase of the optical signal in the silicon waveguide.

[0015] Preferably, the upper arm phase modulation zone includes a phase modulation zone based on germanium ion doping, including: a germanium ion doped region, a silicon ridge waveguide, a third silicon dioxide upper cladding, a third silicon dioxide lower cladding, and a third silicon substrate. By injecting germanium ions into the silicon ridge waveguide, a germanium ion doped region is formed to change the refractive index of the phase modulation zone.

[0016] Preferably, the upper arm phase modulation region includes a phase modulation region based on phase change material, including: a modulation electrode, a phase change material deposited on a silicon waveguide, a fourth silicon waveguide, a fourth silicon dioxide lower cladding layer and a fourth silicon substrate. The modulation electrical signal is applied to the phase change material through the modulation electrode, and the temperature of the phase change material region changes, thereby changing the effective refractive index and phase of the optical signal in the fourth silicon waveguide.

[0017] Preferably, the modulation period P of the dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array combined with the artificial gauge field is 10um, the amplitude A is 0.53um, and the waveguide width is 0.5um and 0.54um.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0019] The present invention realizes state switching between multiple light outputs, selection and quantity control of working light path channels, and finally realizes far-field light field control, and control of light spot size, light field form and resolution through an electrically adjustable / thermally adjustable optical switch based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer structure, or a germanium ion-doped non-volatile adjustable optical switch based on the same structure, or a phase-change material non-volatile adjustable optical switch based on the same structure; and realizes far-field 180-degree aliasing-free scanning and controllable light spot size, field of view range and resolution. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of non-limiting embodiments made with reference to the following drawings:

[0021] Figure 1 The present invention mainly embodies the structural schematic diagram of a reconfigurable half-wavelength emission optical phased array;

[0022] Figure 2 The present invention mainly embodies a schematic diagram of a dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array combined with an artificial gauge field;

[0023] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the cascade optical switch unit mainly embodied in the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4 The present invention mainly embodies a schematic diagram of a silicon-based electro-optical phase modulation region based on L-type ion doping;

[0025] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a silicon-based electro-optical phase modulation region based on U-type ion doping, which is mainly embodied in the present invention;

[0026] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of a phase modulation zone based on a thermo-optical effect mainly embodied in the present invention;

[0027] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of a phase modulation region based on germanium ion doping mainly embodied in the present invention;

[0028] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of a phase-modulation region based on a phase-change material, which is mainly embodied in the present invention;

[0029] Fig. 9 The present invention mainly embodies the normalized far-field image.

[0030] As shown in the figure:

[0031] Cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch 10000 Parallel modulator array 20000 Dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge-emitting array 30000 combined with artificial gauge field

[0032] First layer cascade optical switch 11000 Second layer first cascade optical switch 12000

[0033] The second layer second cascade optical switch 13000 The third layer first cascade optical switch 14000

[0034] The third layer second cascade optical switch 15000 The third layer third cascade optical switch 16000 The third layer and the fourth cascade optical switch 17000 input waveguide 11010

[0035] 1×2 multimode interference coupler 11020 Upper arm phase modulation area 11030 Lower arm phase modulation area 11040 2×2 multimode interference coupler 11050 P-type heavily doped region 11031 N-type heavily doped region 11032 P-type lightly doped region 11033 N-type lightly doped region 11034

[0036] First modulation electrode 11035 Second modulation electrode 11036 Silicon dioxide upper cladding 11037 Silicon dioxide lower cladding 11038 Silicon substrate 11039 Third modulation electrode 21031

[0037] Fourth modulation electrode 21032 Hot electrode 21033

[0038] Second silica upper cladding 21034 Silicon waveguide 21035

[0039] Second silicon dioxide lower cladding layer 21036 Second silicon substrate 21037

[0040] Germanium ion doped region 31031 Silicon ridge waveguide 31032

[0041] The third silicon dioxide upper cladding 31033 The third silicon dioxide lower cladding 31034

[0042] Third silicon substrate 31035 Modulation electrode 41031 Phase change material 41032

[0043] Fourth silicon waveguide 41033 Fourth silicon dioxide lower cladding 41034 And the fourth silicon substrate 41035 DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with specific embodiments. The following embodiments will help those skilled in the art to further understand the present invention, but are not intended to limit the present invention in any form. It should be noted that, for those of ordinary skill in the art, several changes and improvements can also be made without departing from the concept of the present invention. These all belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

[0045] like Figure 1-9 As shown, a reconfigurable half-wavelength emission optical phased array provided by the present invention includes: a cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch 10000, a parallel modulator array 20000, and a dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array 30000 combined with an artificial gauge field; the cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch 10000 includes a multi-layer cascaded cascade optical switch unit, and the cascade optical switch unit as the basic structure of the cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch includes an input waveguide 11010 and an output waveguide to ensure effective transmission of optical signals. Any cascade optical switch includes: a 1×2 multimode interference coupler 11020, an upper arm phase modulation region 11030, a lower arm phase modulation region 11040, and a 2×2 multimode interference coupler 11050. The 1×2 multimode interference coupler 11020 is used The input optical signal is distributed to two output channels, the upper arm phase modulation area 11030 and the lower arm phase modulation area 11040 are used to adjust the phase of the optical signal, and the 2×2 multimode interference coupler 11050 realizes the optical path state switching through the phase difference between the two arms; the multiple optical signals output by the cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch 10000 are respectively input to the input end of the parallel modulator array 20000, and the multiple output ends of the parallel modulator array 20000 are respectively connected to the input end of the dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array 30000 combined with the artificial gauge field; the dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array 30000 combined with the artificial gauge field includes a sinusoidal curved waveguide array with alternating widths, so that the silicon waveguide can be densely arranged at half the wavelength without crosstalk to adjacent waveguides.

[0046] The upper arm phase modulation region 11030 and the lower arm phase modulation region 11040 include the same structure, including an ion-doped silicon-based electro-optical phase modulation region, a silicon-based thermo-optical phase modulation region, a silicon-based germanium ion-doped phase modulation region, or a silicon-based deposited phase change material phase modulation region.

[0047] The present application is further described by taking the upper arm phase adjustment area 11030 as an example.

[0048] The upper arm phase modulation region 11030 includes a silicon-based electro-optical phase modulation region based on L-type ion doping, including: a P-type heavily doped region 11031, an N-type heavily doped region 11032, a P-type lightly doped region 11033, an N-type lightly doped region 11034, a first modulation electrode 11035, a second modulation electrode 11036, a silicon dioxide upper cladding 11037, a silicon dioxide lower cladding 11038 and a silicon substrate 11039. Specifically, an L-type carrier depletion junction is formed between the P-type lightly doped region 11033 and the N-type lightly doped region 11034, and the modulated electrical signal is applied to the low-resistance P-type heavily doped region 11031 and the N-type heavily doped region 11032 through the first electrode 11035 and the second electrode 11036, respectively, thereby adjusting the carrier concentration in the junction formed by the P-type lightly doped region 11033 and the N-type lightly doped region 11034, and further changing the effective refractive index of the optical signal in the waveguide. Thanks to the fact that the L-type carrier depletion junction is laterally distributed in the entire silicon waveguide area, effective refractive index / phase control can be generated for both the base film optical signal and the high-order mode optical signal.

[0049] The upper arm phase modulation region 11030 includes a silicon-based electro-optical phase modulation region based on U-type ion doping, including: a P-type heavily doped region 11031, an N-type heavily doped region 11032, a P-type lightly doped region 11033, an N-type lightly doped region 11034, a first modulation electrode 11035, a second modulation electrode 11036, a silicon dioxide upper cladding 11037, a silicon dioxide lower cladding 11038 and a silicon substrate 11039. Specifically, a U-shaped carrier depletion junction is formed between the P-type lightly doped region 11033 and the N-type lightly doped region 11034, and the modulated electrical signal is applied to the low-resistance P-type heavily doped region 11031 and the N-type heavily doped region 11032 through the first electrode 11035 and the second electrode 11036, respectively, thereby adjusting the carrier concentration in the junction formed by the P-type lightly doped region 11033 and the N-type lightly doped region 11034, and further changing the effective refractive index of the optical signal in the waveguide. Thanks to the fact that the U-shaped carrier depletion junction is laterally distributed in the entire silicon waveguide area, effective refractive index / phase control can be generated for both the base film optical signal and the high-order mode optical signal.

[0050] In some other specific embodiments, the upper arm phase modulation region 11030 includes a phase modulation region based on the thermo-optical effect, including: a third modulation electrode 21031, a fourth modulation electrode 21032, a thermoelectrode 21033, a second silicon dioxide upper cladding 21034, a silicon waveguide 21035, a second silicon dioxide lower cladding 21036, and a second silicon substrate 21037. Specifically, the modulated electrical signal is applied to the thermoelectrode 21033 through the third modulation electrode 21031 and the fourth modulation electrode 21032, and the thermoelectrode 21033 generates a thermal effect, and the temperature changes, thereby adjusting the temperature of the lower waveguide, and changing the effective refractive index and phase of the optical signal in the silicon waveguide 21035.

[0051] In some other specific embodiments, the upper arm phase modulation region 11030 includes a phase modulation region based on germanium ion doping, including: a germanium ion doped region 31031, a silicon ridge waveguide 31032, a third silicon dioxide upper cladding 31033, a third silicon dioxide lower cladding 31034, and a third silicon substrate 31035. Specifically, germanium ions are injected into the silicon ridge waveguide 31032 to form a germanium ion doped region, thereby changing the refractive index of the phase modulation region. After laser annealing, the germanium ion doped region can be erased to restore the refractive index properties of the original silicon waveguide. That is, through ion implantation and laser annealing processes, the effective refractive index of the optical signal in the waveguide can also be changed, thereby changing the phase. Compared with silicon-based electro-optical / thermo-optical phase modulation zones, germanium ion doping phase modulation is non-volatile and can maintain phase control in this state after doping / annealing. It does not require continuous voltage supply to the electro-optical / thermo-optical phase modulation zone. However, the disadvantage is that the injected germanium ions are completely erased after laser annealing, and only a single state selection switch can be performed.

[0052] In some other specific embodiments, the upper arm phase modulation region 11030 includes a phase modulation region based on a phase change material, including: a modulation electrode 41031, a phase change material 41032 deposited on a silicon waveguide, a fourth silicon waveguide 41033, a fourth silicon dioxide lower cladding 41034, and a fourth silicon substrate 41035. Specifically, the modulated electrical signal is applied to the phase change material 41032 through the modulation electrode 41031, so that the temperature of the phase change material 41032 region changes, thereby changing its refractive index to change the effective refractive index and phase of the optical signal in the fourth silicon waveguide 41033. The refractive index change of the phase change material 41032 is also non-volatile, that is, the control voltage can be removed after being adjusted to a certain refractive index / phase change amount, and the phase change amount in the corresponding state will be maintained. When the state needs to be switched, the voltage is applied again to change the temperature, so that the refractive index / phase of the phase change material 41032 changes to the corresponding requirements in other states. Different from the phase-modulation region doped with germanium ions, the phase-modulation region based on phase change materials can perform multiple reconfigurable non-volatile state switching.

[0053] The dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array 30000 combined with artificial gauge field has a modulation period P of 10um, an amplitude A of 0.53um, and waveguide widths of 0.5um and 0.54um.

[0054] This application introduces a dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array 30000 combined with an artificial gauge field, that is, a sinusoidal curved waveguide with alternating widths, so that when the silicon waveguide array spacing is less than or close to the sub-wavelength spacing, the normalized far-field image of the device is simulated, and it is observed that only the main mode exists in the 180° field of view, and no side mode exists. When the channel spacing meets the condition of being less than the sub-wavelength, only the central main maximum exists in the field of view, suppressing the existence of the side mode. By phase modulation, only the main maximum will move in the field of view, thereby achieving an unlimited scanning angle range, effectively suppressing the aliasing caused by adjacent main maximums, and achieving aliasing-free scanning.

[0055] The cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch 10000 of the co-installed photonic integrated interconnection system with dynamic capacity expansion of the present application takes a three-layer cascade as an example. In practical applications, it is not limited to a three-layer cascade, and the number of optical paths can be 2 to the power of n, where n is a positive integer. The three-stage Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch cascade can realize the work selection switching between the eight-channel optical paths and the control of the number of one, two, four, and eight working optical paths through the different control voltage states of each optical switch phase modulation zone. After the corresponding working optical path signal is modulated by the parallel modulator array 20000, the corresponding far field of the optical field is generated. By adjusting the voltage of the parallel modulator array, a fixed phase difference between different channels is formed, thereby generating a stable intensity distribution in space, generating a far field with controllable spot size, field of view, and resolution, thereby realizing light field regulation. Then, the dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array 30000 combined with the artificial standard field on the chip is output to the free space, which can realize the far-field regulation of the light field and control the spot size, field of view range, and resolution.

[0056] The three-layer cascade Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch includes a first-layer cascade optical switch 11000, a second-layer first cascade optical switch 12000, a second-layer second cascade optical switch 13000, a third-layer first cascade optical switch 14000, a third-layer second cascade optical switch 15000, a third-layer third cascade optical switch 16000, and a third-layer fourth cascade optical switch 17000, as the basic structure of the cascade optical switch array.

[0057] Taking the first-layer cascade optical switch 11000 as an example, the first optical signal is inputted by the input waveguide 11010 in TE0 mode, and the first optical signal is evenly split by the 1*2 multimode interference coupler 11020 to form the second optical signal and the third optical signal respectively inputted into the upper and lower arms of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The upper arm phase modulation area 11030 and the lower arm phase modulation area 11040 of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer respectively perform phase modulation on the second and third optical signals. According to the phase difference after the modulation of the two optical signals, the two output ends of the multimode interference coupler 11150 will have different output conditions, and all the light can be outputted from one output end, or equal light can be outputted from two output ends. When the light is outputted from the upper port of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch, the control voltage of the phase modulation area is V1, when the light is outputted from the lower port of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch, the control voltage of the phase modulation area is V2, and when the light is evenly split and outputted from the upper and lower ports of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch, the control voltage of the phase modulation area is V3.

[0058] By continuing to cascade the proposed mode multiplexing type Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch after the two output ends, a larger-scale channel selection and control switching of the number of working optical paths can be realized. Taking the three-stage Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch as an example, light can be selected and output from any one of the eight channels. For example, when the control voltages of the first-layer cascade optical switch 11000, the second-layer first cascade optical switch 12000, and the third-layer first cascade optical switch 14000 are all V1, light is output from channel 1; when the control voltages of the first-layer cascade optical switch 11000 and the second-layer first cascade optical switch 12000 are V1, and the control voltage of the third-layer first cascade optical switch 14000 is V2, light is output from channel 2. The same is true for the remaining channels. By controlling the corresponding optical switches in the three-stage cascade, any one of the eight channels can be selected to work.

[0059] The three-stage cascade Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch can also be controlled to realize four-way output. For example, when the control voltage of the optical switch 11000 is V1, and the control voltages of the first cascade optical switch 12000 of the second layer, the first cascade optical switch 14000 of the third layer, and the second cascade optical switch 15000 of the third layer are all V3, the light is divided into four and outputted from channels 1, 2, 3, and 4 at the same time and evenly; when the control voltage of the first-stage cascade optical switch 11000 is V2, and the control voltages of the second-stage second cascade optical switch 13000 of the second layer, the third-stage third cascade optical switch 16000 of the third layer, and the fourth-stage cascade optical switch 17000 of the third layer are all V3, the light is divided into four and outputted from channels 5, 6, 7, and 8 at the same time and evenly; When the control voltage of the first cascade optical switch 14000 and the third layer third cascade optical switch 16000 is V3, and the control voltage of the second layer first cascade optical switch 12000 and the second layer second cascade optical switch 13000 is V1, light is outputted from channels 1, 2, 5 and 6 at the same time and evenly; when the control voltage of the first cascade optical switch 11000, the third layer second cascade optical switch 15000 and the third layer fourth cascade optical switch 17000 is V3, and the control voltage of the second layer first cascade optical switch 12000 and the second layer second cascade optical switch 13000 is V2, light is outputted from channels 3, 4, 7 and 8 at the same time and evenly; the selection states of the remaining channels are similar, and any four of the eight channels can be selected to work by controlling the corresponding optical switches in the three-level cascade.

[0060] The three-stage cascade Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch can also be controlled to achieve eight-way output. When the control voltages of the first-layer cascade optical switch 11000, the second-layer first cascade optical switch 12000, the second-layer second cascade optical switch 13000, the third-layer first cascade optical switch 14000, the third-layer second cascade optical switch 15000, the third-layer third cascade optical switch 16000, and the third-layer fourth cascade optical switch 17000 are all V3, the light is divided into eight and output equally from eight channels.

[0061] From the above, by driving the three-stage cascade Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch with different control voltages, the selection and switching between the eight-channel optical paths can be realized, and the state switching of the number of working optical paths can be realized. By continuing to cascade more layers, it can be expanded to 16, 32, 64 and more optical paths. Channel selection and channel number control. After the corresponding working optical path signal is modulated by the modulator, the phase difference between the channels is controlled, and the light intensity interferes constructively in the far field to form a stable and bright light spot. By controlling the voltage of the parallel modulator, dynamic scanning of the light spot can be realized.

[0062] In the phase modulation process of the entire Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch mentioned above, the number of channels and the spacing of the transmitting array are indirectly controlled by controlling the channel selection, the number of channels and the channel rate, thereby controlling the size, scanning range and resolution of the far-field spot, which has a very high practical value.

[0063] The light field reconfigurable sub-wavelength emission optical phased array of the present application is an electrically adjustable / thermally adjustable optical switch based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer structure, or a germanium ion doped non-volatile adjustable optical switch based on the same structure, or a phase change material non-volatile adjustable optical switch based on the same structure, and a waveguide superlattice combined with an artificial gauge field to realize an edge emission array with sub-wavelength spacing, thereby achieving 180-degree aliasing-free scanning in the far field and controllable spot size, field of view range, and resolution.

[0064] The present application can realize the control of channel selection, number of channels and channel rate, and obtain a photonic integrated interconnected optical phased array device with adjustable light field, thereby realizing 180-degree aliasing-free scanning in the far field and controllable spot size, field of view range and resolution.

[0065] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc., indicating orientations or positional relationships, are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0066] The above describes the specific embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art can make various changes or modifications within the scope of the claims, which does not affect the essence of the present invention. In the absence of conflict, the embodiments of the present application and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other arbitrarily.

Claims

1. A reconfigurable half-wavelength transmitting optical phased array, characterized in that: include: Cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switches (10,000), parallel modulator arrays (20,000), dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge-emitting arrays combined with artificial gauge fields (30,000); The cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch (10000) comprises a multi-layer cascaded cascade optical switch unit, and any of the cascaded optical switch units comprises: a 1×2 multimode interference coupler (11020), an upper arm phase modulation area (11030), a lower arm phase modulation area (11040), and a 2×2 multimode interference coupler (11050), wherein the 1×2 multimode interference coupler (11020) is used to distribute an input optical signal to two output channels, the upper arm phase modulation area (11030) and the lower arm phase modulation area (11040) are used to adjust the phase of the optical signal, and the 2×2 multimode interference coupler (11050) realizes optical path state switching through a phase difference between two arms; The multiple optical signals output by the cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch (10000) are respectively input to the input end of the parallel modulator array (20000), and the multiple output ends of the parallel modulator array (20000) are respectively connected to the input end of the dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array (30000) combined with an artificial gauge field; The dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array (30000) combined with an artificial gauge field comprises a sinusoidal curved waveguide array with alternating widths.

2. The reconfigurable half-wavelength transmitting optical phased array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper arm phase modulation region (11030) and the lower arm phase modulation region (11040) include the same structure, including an ion-doped silicon-based electro-optical phase modulation region, a silicon-based thermo-optical phase modulation region, a silicon-based germanium ion-doped phase modulation region, or a silicon-based deposited phase change material phase modulation region.

3. The reconfigurable half-wavelength transmitting optical phased array according to claim 2, characterized in that: The upper arm phase modulation region (11030) comprises a silicon-based electro-optical phase modulation region based on L-type ion doping, including: a P-type heavily doped region (11031), an N-type heavily doped region (11032), a P-type lightly doped region (11033), an N-type lightly doped region (11034), a first modulation electrode (11035), a second modulation electrode (11036), a silicon dioxide upper cladding layer (11037), a silicon dioxide lower cladding layer (11038) and a silicon substrate (11039), wherein the P-type An L-type carrier depletion junction is formed between the lightly doped region (11033) and the N-type lightly doped region (11034). A modulated electrical signal is applied to the low-resistance P-type heavily doped region (11031) and the N-type heavily doped region (11032) through a first electrode (11035) and a second electrode (11036), respectively, to adjust the carrier concentration of the junction formed by the P-type lightly doped region (11033) and the N-type lightly doped region (11034), thereby changing the effective refractive index of the optical signal in the waveguide.

4. The reconfigurable half-wavelength transmitting optical phased array according to claim 2, characterized in that: The upper arm phase modulation region (11030) comprises a silicon-based electro-optical phase modulation region based on U-type ion doping, including: a P-type heavily doped region (11031), an N-type heavily doped region (11032), a P-type lightly doped region (11033), an N-type lightly doped region (11034), a first modulation electrode (11035), a second modulation electrode (11036), a silicon dioxide upper cladding layer (11037), a silicon dioxide lower cladding layer (11038) and a silicon substrate (11039), wherein the P-type A U-shaped carrier depletion junction is formed between the lightly doped region (11033) and the N-type lightly doped region (11034). A modulated electrical signal is applied to the low-resistance P-type heavily doped region (11031) and the N-type heavily doped region (11032) through a first electrode (11035) and a second electrode (11036), respectively, to adjust the carrier concentration of the junction formed by the P-type lightly doped region (11033) and the N-type lightly doped region (11034), thereby changing the effective refractive index of the optical signal in the waveguide.

5. The reconfigurable half-wavelength transmitting optical phased array according to claim 2, characterized in that: The upper arm phase modulation region (11030) includes a phase modulation region based on the thermo-optical effect, including: a third modulation electrode (21031), a fourth modulation electrode (21032), a thermoelectrode (21033), a second silicon dioxide upper cladding layer (21034), a silicon waveguide (21035), a second silicon dioxide lower cladding layer (21036) and a second silicon substrate (21037). A modulated electrical signal is applied to the thermoelectrode (21033) through the third modulation electrode (21031) and the fourth modulation electrode (21032). The thermoelectrode (21033) generates a thermal effect, thereby changing the effective refractive index and phase of the optical signal in the silicon waveguide (21035).

6. The reconfigurable half-wavelength transmitting optical phased array according to claim 2, characterized in that: The upper arm phase modulation region (11030) comprises a phase modulation region based on germanium ion doping, including: a germanium ion doped region (31031), a silicon ridge waveguide (31032), a third silicon dioxide upper cladding layer (31033), a third silicon dioxide lower cladding layer (31034), and a third silicon substrate (31035). By injecting germanium ions into the silicon ridge waveguide (31032), a germanium ion doped region is formed to change the refractive index of the phase modulation region.

7. The reconfigurable half-wavelength transmitting optical phased array according to claim 2, characterized in that: The upper arm phase modulation region (11030) includes a phase modulation region based on a phase change material, including: a modulation electrode (41031), a phase change material (41032) deposited on a silicon waveguide, a fourth silicon waveguide (41033), a fourth silicon dioxide lower cladding (41034) and a fourth silicon substrate (41035). A modulation electrical signal is applied to the phase change material (41032) through the modulation electrode (41031), and the temperature of the phase change material (41032) region changes, thereby changing the effective refractive index and phase of the optical signal in the fourth silicon waveguide (41033).

8. The reconfigurable half-wavelength transmitting optical phased array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The dense waveguide superlattice half-wavelength edge emission array (30000) combined with an artificial gauge field has a modulation period P of 10um, an amplitude A of 0.53um, and waveguide widths of 0.5um and 0.54um.

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