Design, Simulation, Manufacturing and Characterization of a tunable Beam Steering device based on Liquid Crystals

Abstract

In this project a new high performing 2D beam deflector with no movable parts will be developed. The device will be composed by two cascaded liquid crystal cells, each one steering the beam in one dimension. The active area of the device will be 1.08x1.08 mm². The cells will be composed by 144 electrodes with 7.5 µm pitch width, driven by a custom made 12-bit Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) electronical driver. Direct Laser Writing (DLW) techniques will be employed to obtain high-resolution structures, with a high fill factor, in glass wafers coated with Indium-Tin Oxide (ITO). A 144x144 efficiency map will be presented, for a maximum diagonal steering angle of ±3,42°. The results will be accompanied by a simulation based on Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction approximation.