Agile beam steering using phased-array-like elements
First Claim
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1. Optical apparatus for agile steering of a light beam comprising:
- a complementary pair of first and second optical elements, each of the elements including a phased-array-like profile of pixelated steps with no step introducing a phase delay greater than one wave; and
structure to position the elements to face each other in close proximity and to translate one element with respect to the other element by a distance equal to an integer multiple of the width of the pixelated step.
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Abstract
Agile steering of a laser beam using a pair of complementary optical elements which are mechanically translated. The elements consist of pixelated steps of varying depth. Structure is provided to steer a laser beam by translating one element with respect to the other element by a distance that is an integer multiple of the step width.
26 Citations
22 Claims
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1. Optical apparatus for agile steering of a light beam comprising:
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a complementary pair of first and second optical elements, each of the elements including a phased-array-like profile of pixelated steps with no step introducing a phase delay greater than one wave; and
structure to position the elements to face each other in close proximity and to translate one element with respect to the other element by a distance equal to an integer multiple of the width of the pixelated step. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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10. The device of claim 1 wherein, sidelobe diffractions are confined to a small number of orders which are far away from the target order.
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11. The device of claim 1 wherein each element consists of one cell.
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12. The device of claim 1 wherein each element consists of an array of cells.
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13. The device of claim 1 wherein the phased-array-like profile produced by a single cell and that produced by multiple cells always differ by an integer multiple of waves such that said phased-array-like profiles are equivalent.
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14. The device of claim 1 wherein said phased-array-like profile consists of parallel grooved steps whereby said beam is steered in a direction perpendicular to the edges of the steps.
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15. The device of claim 1 wherein said phased-array-like profile consists of square or rectangular steps whereby said beam is steered in two directions perpendicular to the edges of the steps.
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16. The device of claim 14 or 15 wherein a phase delay of each step is caused by variations in physical height.
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17. The device of claim 1 wherein, said elements are fabricated on quartz substrates.
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18. The device of claim 1 wherein said elements are fabricated with four binary masks.
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19. The device of claim 1 wherein, said elements are quantized to 16 phase levels with a minimum feature size of 5.0 μ
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- 20. An optical device for agile steering a light beam comprising a complementary pair of binary optics elements with phased array profiles, the first element having a planar surface with one or more steps with each step introducing a phase delay of not more than one wave, the second element being identical to the first element but each step having phase delay opposite of said delay of the complementary step in the first element, wherein said elements with the profiled surfaces positioned to face each other in close proximity and mechanically translated in the direction parallel to any side of the elements by a distance that is an integer multiple of the step width, thus diffracting the incoming light beam into any diffraction order.
Specification