Experimental analysis of beam pointing system based on liquid crystal optical phase array

Abstract

In this paper, we propose and demonstrate an elementary non-mechanical beam aiming and steering system with a single liquid crystal optical phase array (LC-OPA) and charge-coupled device (CCD). With the conventional method of beam steering control, the LC-OPA device can realize one dimensional beam steering continuously. An improved beam steering strategy is applied to realize two dimensional beam steering with a single LC-OPA. The whole beam aiming and steering system, including an LC-OPA and a retroreflective target, is controlled by the monitor. We test the feasibility of beam steering strategy both in one dimension and in two dimension at first, then the whole system is build up based on the improved strategy. The experimental results show that the max experimental pointing error is 56 μrad, and the average pointing error of the system is 19 μrad.

Keywords

Lasers and laser optics / laser beam shaping / liquid crystals / optical engineering

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