ALGAN ELECTRO-OPTIC WAVEGUIDE BEAM SCANNER

WE PROPOSE A UNIQUE ELECTRO-OPTIC LWIR BEAM SCANNING DEVICE. THIS ALXGA1-XN PLANAR WAVEGUIDE BASED ELECTRO-OPTIC DEVICE CAN BE USED EITHER IN A SCANNER OR A RECEIVER CONFIGURATION. IT HAS THE POTENTIAL OF LARGE FIELD OF VIEW (20 DEGREES), FAST RANDOM ACCESS AND LOW POWER OPERATION. THE DEVICE IS BASED ON A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF ELECTRO-OPTIC BRAGG DIFFRACTION GRATING THAT ARE FABRICATED OVER PLANAR ALXGA1-XN WAVEGUIDES. THESE WAVEGUIDES ARE TO BE FABRICATED OVER SAPPHIRE SUBSTRATES USING ATOMIC LAYER MOCVD DEPOSITIONS IN AN APA PROPRIETARY SYSTEM. TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OUR DEVICE WILL BE THE FIRST LWIR SOLID STATE SCANNING DEVICE. IT WILL BE SUPERIOR TO ITS CONVENTIONAL OR ACOUSTO-OPTIC COUNTER PARTS OWING TO THE LARGER FIELD OF VIEWS AND HIGHER SPEED. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL DEVELOP THE DEVICE DESIGN AND DEMONSTRATE BRAGG GRATING DEFLECTION. THIS FORMS THE BASIS OF OUR DEVICE TECHNICAL APPROACH. PHASE II WILL BE AIMED AT FABRICATING, TESTING & OPTIMIZING THE DEVICE.