Si integrated optical phased array for efficient beam steering in optical wireless communications

Abstract

In this paper we propose a silicon integrated optical phased array based on edge couplers for efficient beam steering in optical wireless communication systems. A 1×4 phased array is proposed and simulated, and results show that it can steer the beam over a wide range (>20 o ) and operate over a wide bandwidth (>55 nm). In addition, the proposed beam steering device is compact, easy to fabricate, and has high efficiency.Keywords-silicon photonic integration, edge couplers, optical phased array, beam steering, optical wireless communications.