Broadband operation of an InP optical phased array

We demonstrate the broadband operation and beam calibration over 70nm tuning range of an optical phased array (OPA) fabricated in a generic InP photonic integration platform, which enables multi-wavelength OPA operation. The broadband performance was demonstrated on an 8-channel OPA, whose calibration and phase modulator characterization were executed through near-field and far-field measurements. The architecture reported here is scalable, and the results are promising for reducing the complexity of calibration and control of large-scale OPAs for their use at multiple wavelengths, for example, for spectral imaging or 2D beam steering through dispersive gratings

InP-based optical phased array with on-chip amplification

We present an optical phased array (OPA) photonic integrated circuit based on an InP generic platform with on-chip amplification. To the best of our knowledge, it is the OPA with the highest on-chip optical gain reported in literature. The proof-of-principle OPA chip has 8 channels and includes a booster semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), and in-line SOAs for amplification in all arms. We investigated the optical amplification performance at different current injection levels in an 80nm wavelength range. We measured a maximum on-chip optical gain of 8.6dB at 1530nm for an on-chip input laser power of 5dBm, delivering a total output power of 23mW. The results are promising for OPA-based LiDAR systems where output power is critical to increase the sensing range