Program Summary
The Steerable Optical Aperture Receivers (SOAR) program is developing new approaches to optical beam steering in miniature form factors. SOAR researchers aim to experimentally demonstrate on-chip, two-dimensional beam steering for an optical receiver. SOAR approaches do not use the wavelength of incoming light to determine the angle of arrival onto the receiver, enabling compatibility with more Department of Defense-relevant applications.
Optical beam steering, both receive and transmit, is fundamental to the operation of broad classes of optical systems, such as those used for transmitting data via free-space optical communications, or light detection and ranging (lidar) for sensing. Today, optical beam steering is primarily accomplished by mechanically pointing the lenses of an optical assembly using gimbals or motors. Gimbal-free optical beam steering methods – which have rapid, fine pointing control over wide-angle fields of view – will reduce the size and weight of current beam-steering systems. While bulky mechanical operations severely limit deployment on small and autonomous vehicles, SOAR will develop technology to break this trade space.