Ultrafast Laser Beam Steering

Laser beam steering is a vital technology that is impactful in many areas including, but not limited to, radar applications, imaging, remote sensing, robotics, autonomous vehicles, navigation, geodesy, geomatics, archaeology, mapping, geography, seismology, spaceflights, surveying, and atmospheric physics. Reducing the steering time is beneficial for the sake of higher frame rate as well as improved resolution. The state-of-the-art laser beam steering devices are implemented using phased-array optical technology, which utilizes liquid crystals, lithium niobate cells, or other means of electro-optic spatial light modulators. This technology generates laser beams that can scan a large angle of view within a time scale in the order of microseconds; however, steering times in the order of nanoseconds or picoseconds are desired. Improvements are needed in this field.

Researchers at Purdue University have developed an ultrafast laser beam steering technology that enhances the beam steering speed by five orders of magnitude. The introduction of a novel frequency-arrayed technology in which mode-locked multi-frequency optical modes coherently interfere to change the direction of propagating beam with time providing the sought after beam steering device. This technology achieved beam steering over a time scale of 10 to 100 picoseconds.

Advantages:

-Enhanced beam steering speed by five orders of magnitude

-Achieved a time scale of 10 to 100 picoseconds

Potential Applications:

-Radar

-Imaging

-Remote sensing

-Robotics

-Autonomous vehicles

-Spatiotemporal coherent control of quantum dynamical processes

TRL: 4

Intellectual Property:

Keywords: Ultrafast laser beam steering, frequency-arrayed technology, mode-locked multi-frequency optical modes, high-speed beam steering, nanosecond steering, picosecond steering, phased-array optical technology, spatial light modulators, beam steering speed enhancement, electro-optic modulators