Issue 15, 2018

Improved performance of optical phased arrays assisted by transparent graphene nanoheaters and air trenches

Abstract

In this paper, high-performance optical phased arrays (OPAs) assisted by transparent graphene nanoheaters and air trenches have been designed and simulated. By directly locating graphene nanoheaters on silicon waveguides, heating efficiency is enhanced by 62.96% compared to conventional structures with 1 μm SiO2 overlays, and is further enhanced by a factor of 200% by the presence of air trenches. Thanks to the high thermal conductivity of graphene, a record-high operation speed on the order of 200 kHz is realized. Power consumption for π phase shift is 4.65 mW, approximately half of that of the state-of-the-art OPAs. By introducing air trenches, thermal crosstalk is significantly reduced, resulting in an enlarged fill factor. In addition, a novel beam steering scheme in the θ direction is proposed. By applying a 30 mW heating power, a temperature gradient along antennas is generated and beam steering of 2.3° is achieved, satisfying applications such as long-range collision avoidance for autonomous driving.

Graphical abstract: Improved performance of optical phased arrays assisted by transparent graphene nanoheaters and air trenches

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Dec. 2017
Accepted
13 Febr. 2018
First published
23 Febr. 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2018,8, 8442-8449

Improved performance of optical phased arrays assisted by transparent graphene nanoheaters and air trenches

Y. Wang, L. Liang, Y. Chen, P. Jia, L. Qin, Y. Liu, Y. Ning and L. Wang, RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 8442 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA13154B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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