Unequally Spaced Waveguide Arrays for Silicon Nanomembrane-Based Efficient Large Angle Optical Beam Steering

In this paper, we present a design methodology for silicon nanomembrane-based phased array structures with unequally spaced elements for large angle optical beam steering. By optimizing a dielectric waveguide structure for transverse-magnetic-polarized single-mode operation at wavelength of 1.55 mum, we show that a one-stage optical phased array allows 2-D plusmn60deg and plusmn45deg optical beam scanning with minimal degradation in sidelobe level and power efficiency. The number of array elements necessary to realize the desired array performance depends on the fabrication technique, which is formulated in the presented design methodology.