Focal Plane Array Based on Thin-Film Lithium Niobate for Fast-Speed and Low-Power-Consumption Beam Steering

Fast operating speed and low power consumption are critical attributes for effective beam steering of high-performance focal plane arrays (FPAs). Here, we establish an integrated FPA chip based on the electro-optical (EO) effect of thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) to access these outstanding performances. By leveraging the advantages of the EO effect of TFLN, we showcase an ultrafast operating speed of 25.9 ns and an ultralow power consumption of 35.8 nJ/π, which are 3 and 2 orders of magnitude smaller than those of conventional FPAs, respectively. Our experimental results demonstrate a two-dimensional (2D) beam steering with a field of view (FoV) of 1.48° × 1.95°, a beam divergence of 0.036° × 0.043°, and a background suppression ratio exceeding 20 dB. Furthermore, we present the elimination of blind zones in one direction and the potential application of laser projection of proposed EO FPA. This work demonstrates the remarkable advantages of the EO effect of the TFLN platform for developing fast-speed and low-power-consumption FPA chips suitable for a variety of beam-steering applications.