Optical Transceiver with Row-Wise Thermo-Optic Beam Steering
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Solution Overview
Problem
The pitch of nanoantenna elements in existing phased arrays is limited by individual phase-shifters, restricting the achievable steering angle in optical beam-steering applications.
Innovation Solution
A beam-steering optical transceiver with 2π phase shifters and row-wise heating circuits, allowing for uniform thermo-optical phase shifts across rows of nanoantenna elements, enabling wider beam steering angles without individual phase-shift elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If individual phase-shifters are used for each nanoantenna element, then phase control precision is improved, but device complexity and pitch limitations worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual phase-shifters into a single shared phase-shifting mechanism that controls entire rows of nanoantenna elements simultaneously. Instead of having separate phase-shifters for each element, the invention uses row-wise phase shifters that apply uniform phase modulation across all elements in a row, thereby reducing the number of phase-shifting components while maintaining beam steering functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The shared phase-shifting mechanism serves multiple functions: it provides phase control for all nanoantenna elements in a row, enables beam steering in the vertical dimension, and reduces overall device complexity. This universal phase-shifting approach allows a single component to perform what previously required multiple individual components.
2Area of stationary object
If nanoantenna element pitch is reduced, then aperture size is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the phase control function into row-wise independent units, where each row can be controlled separately by its own phase-shifting mechanism. This segmentation allows for reduced element pitch within rows while maintaining manageable control complexity, as the system divides the large aperture into smaller controllable segments (rows) that can be manufactured and controlled more precisely.
3Adaptability or versatility
If uniformly distributed phase shift is used across rows, then beam steering range is improved, but individual element control capability worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from controlling individual elements in one dimension to controlling rows in a second dimension. By organizing nanoantenna elements into rows and applying phase shifts at the row level, the system achieves wide-angle beam steering capability while simplifying control. The row-wise phase shifting provides an additional degree of freedom for beam steering that individual element control alone could not achieve efficiently.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration allows for greater beam steering range and aperture size, supporting wide-angle beam steering and multiple beam capabilities, enhancing the utility of optical transceivers in applications like LIDAR and free-space communications.
Implementation Method 1
waveguide thermo-optic heaters to control the individual phases of the respective nanoantenna elements
Implementation Method 2
An array of nanoantenna elements scaled for near-infrared emission are fed by silicon waveguides
Data Source
AI summary
A beam-steering optical transceiver is provided. The transceiver includes one or more modules, each comprising an antenna chip and a control chip bonded to the antenna chip. Each antenna chip has a feeder waveguide, a plurality of row waveguides that tap off from the feeder waveguide, and a plurality of metallic nanoantenna elements arranged in a two-dimensional array of rows and columns such that each row overlies one of the row waveguides. Each antenna chip also includes a plurality of independently addressable thermo-optical phase shifters, each configured to produce a thermo-optical phase shift in a respective row. Each antenna chip also has, for each row, a row-wise heating circuit configured to produce a respective thermo-optic phase shift at each nanoantenna element along its row. The control chip includes controllable current sources for the independently addressable thermo-optical phase shifters and the row-wise heating circuits.