Prism lens for beam collimation in a silicon photonic crystal beam-steering device

Abstract

The doubly periodic Si photonic crystal waveguide operates as a nonmechanical beam-steering device that can be applied in light detection and ranging. In this Letter, we develop and describe a prism lens that collimates a fan-shaped beam, emitted from the waveguide independent of the steering angle. Its fundamental profile is investigated using a theoretical analysis for thick lenses, and then, its detailed aspherical design is obtained. In ray tracing, this prism lens suppresses the beam divergence to less than the diffraction limit in most of the targeted beam-steering range. The prism lens is fabricated by acrylic cutting, and its expected characteristics are observed.