Space-multiplexed optical scanner

A low-loss two-dimensional optical beam scanner that is capable of delivering large (e.g., >10degrees) angular scans along the elevation as well as the azimuthal direction is presented. The proposed scanner is based on a space-switched parallel-serial architecture that employs a coarse-scanner module and a fine-scanner module that produce an ultrahigh scan space-fill factor, e.g., 900 x 900 distinguishable beams in a 10degrees (elevation) x 10degrees (azimuth) scan space. The experimentally demonstrated one-dimensional version of the proposed scanner has a supercontinuous scan, 100 distinguishable beam spots in a 2.29degrees total scan range, and 1.5-dB optical insertion loss. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.