1-D electro-optic beam steering device

In this paper, we present the design and fabrication of a 1D beam steering device based on planar electro-optic thermal-plastic prisms and a collimator lens array. With the elimination of moving parts, the proposed device is able to overcome the mechanical limitations of present scanning devices, such as fatigue and low operating frequency, while maintaining a small system footprint (similar to 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm). From experimental data, our prototype device is able to achieve a maximum deflection angle of 5.6 degrees for a single stage prism design and 29.2 degrees for a cascaded three prisms stage design. The lens array shows a 4 mu m collimated beam diameter. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.