Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Planar Luneburg lens system for two-dimensional optical beam steering
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Application No.: US16804612Application Date: 2020-02-28
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Publication No.: US11163116B2Publication Date: 2021-11-02
- Inventor: Josue Lopez , Samuel Kim , Jamison Sloan , Boris Kharas , Jeffrey Scott Herd , Marin Soljacic , Cheryl Marie Sorace-Agaskar , Suraj Deepak Bramhavar , Steven Glenn Johnson , George Barbastathis
- Applicant: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Applicant Address: US MA Cambridge
- Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Current Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Current Assignee Address: US MA Cambridge
- Agency: Smith Baluch LLP
- Main IPC: G02B6/124
- IPC: G02B6/124 ; G02F1/295 ; G02B6/12 ; G02B6/125

Abstract:
An integrated optical beam steering device includes a planar Luneburg lens that collimates beams from different inputs in different directions within the lens plane. It also includes a curved (e.g., semi-circular or arced) grating coupler that diffracts the collimated beams out of the lens plane. The beams can be steered in the plane by controlling the direction along which the lens is illuminated and out of the plane by varying the beam wavelength. Unlike other beam steering devices, this device can operate over an extremely wide field of view—up to 180°—without any aberrations off boresight. In other words, the beam quality is uniform in all directions, unlike with aplanatic lenses, thanks to the circular symmetry of the planar Luneburg lens, which may be composed of subwavelength features. The lens is also robust to misalignment and fabrication imperfections and can be made using standard CMOS processes.
Public/Granted literature
- US20200348466A1 Planar Luneburg Lens System for Two-Dimensional Optical Beam Steering Public/Granted day:2020-11-05
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