Integrated Omni-Directional Optical Phased Array Transceivers with Sub-Wavelength Element Spacing and Automatic Beam-Alignment

This program will demonstrate low size, weight, and power (SWaP) integrated 2D optical phased arrays (OPA) with sub-micron antenna spacing that can rapidly steer a beam of light without any mechanically moving parts. The OPA chips will be placed on sides of a dodecahedron to form transmitter and receiver modules with full coverage of the space. These dodecahedron modules are capable of tracking each other and can be used to form high data-rate free-space links for near earth satellite communication. The research will be conducted at the Electronic Photonic Microsystems (EPM) Lab at the University of Pennsylvania.

The OPA chips will be placed on sides of a dodecahedron to form transmitter and receiver modules with full coverage of the space. These dodecahedron modules are capable of tracking each other and can be used to form high data-rate free-space links for near earth satellite communication.

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