High-performance optical beam steering with nanophotonics

Abstract The ability to control and steer optical beams is critical for emerging technologies. Among these are light detection ranging (LiDAR), laser display, free space communication, single pixel imaging. Improvements in areas promise enhanced 3D data collection capabilities, orders of magnitude increase wireless rate, less expensive cameras, ever more immersive virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) consumer electronics. Bulk mechanical or liquid crystal devices conventionally utilized platforms that achieve beam steering, but they bulky limited speed reliability. Instead, chip-scale photonic offer faster elegant mechanisms manipulate light, capable minimizing device size, weight, power. Additionally, a metric its far field resolution, which influences fine feature imaging applications, display quality, signal power fidelity communication links. Strong matter interaction achieved with nanophotonic approaches generally makes smaller efficient, yet ultimately effects must be scaled suitable aperture sizes maintain good resolution. Recent years have seen rapid development performance characteristics, spurred by research on active metasurfaces, slow waveguides, waveguide phased arrays, different architectures encountering unique tradeoffs between complexity, speed, attempting groundbreaking values all three. We review diverse aspire high-performance steering.