A Low SWAP-C, Narrow-Bandwidth, and High-Channel-Density RF Photonic Integrated Channelizer Based on Serial Arrayed Waveguide Gratings and Liquid Crystal Phase Modulators

Light Integration Technologies (LIT) and the University of Washington (UW) propose to develop a novel Liquid-Crystal integrated Serial Arrayed Waveguide Grating (LC-SAWG) photonic integrated channelizer for NASA's hyperspectral microwave sensing applications. The LC-SAWG builds upon the innovative SAWG architecture, enabling arbitrary filter shape synthesis, high channel density, and narrow bandwidths, and integrates liquid-crystal-based phase tuning for compact, low-power, and fast reconfigurability. The technology addresses the limitations of existing RF and photonic solutions in meeting the demanding requirements of NASA's Hyperspectral Microwave Photonic Instrument (HyMPI) program, which requires ultra-wide bandwidth, high spectral resolution (<1 GHz channels), and stringent size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) constraints. The LC-SAWG's unique capabilities, including multi-GHz instantaneous bandwidth channelization, sub-3 GHz channel bandwidths, high channel density, and superior filter characteristics, enable a disruptive solution for advanced hyperspectral microwave atmospheric sounding and remote sensing from space-based platforms. The funding will be used to develop system requirements, design and simulate the multi-level silicon nitride (SiN) photonic integrated circuit (PIC) platform and key components, optimize the fabrication process, and characterize the liquid-crystal-based phase tuners. Phase I will culminate in demonstrating a liquid-crystal-based phase modulator on a low-loss, multi-level SiN PIC platform, validating the feasibility and paving the way for full LC-SAWG prototype development in Phase II. The LC-SAWG technology has significant market potential beyond NASA, including telecommunications (advanced WDM systems), spectroscopy (compact, high-resolution spectrometers), optical sensing, astronomy (high-resolution spectrographs), quantum optics (high-density quantum state multiplexing), and defense applications (mmwave sensing, secure comms)