SBIR Phase I: High Performance Laser Deflector Using Stoichiometric Electro-Optic Materials

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将以一种新颖的方式使用电光(EO)效应，即电场改变非线性材料的折射率，以创建具有非常有利的激光光束扫描和转向性能的光束偏转器。通过新的多阶段设计实现了大角度偏转，最近已经展示了10 GHz的扫描速率。这些设计现在可以在商业产品中执行，使用制造方面的最新进展来改进非线性材料。除了使商业制造成为可能外，这些新的化学计量材料还应该为激光偏转器提供良好的性能，包括改进功率处理和增加红外和紫外线的透明度。这项工作有望用一种到目前为止还没有商业化的电光设备来推进最先进的技术。预计电光偏转器将在激光扫描仪市场上取得相当成功的竞争，在扫描速度、偏转范围、偏转效率和功率处理方面提供卓越的性能，而且设备非常小。建议的EO偏转器的快速扫描速率和高功率处理将在遥感应用中用于光束扫描。应该使用偏转器来克服自由空间通信和可变光学衰减器中的现有限制。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will use the electro-optic (EO) effect, in which an electric field changes the index of refraction of a nonlinear material, in a novel manner to create a beam deflector with very favorable properties for laser beam scanning and steering. Large angle deflections have been achieved through new multi-stage designs, and 10-GHz scan rates have recently been demonstrated. These designs can now be executed in a commercial product using recent advances in fabrication to improved nonlinear materials. In addition to making commercial manufacturing possible, these new stoichiometric materials should impart favorable properties to a laser deflector, including improved power handling and increased infrared and UV transparency. This work is expected to advance the state-of-the-art with an electro-optic device that has so far not been commercially available. Electro-optic deflectors are predicted to compete quite successfully in the laser scanner market, offering superior performance in scan rate, deflection range, deflection efficiency, and power handling in a very small device. The fast scan rates and high power handling of the proposed EO deflector will be useful in for beam scanning in remote sensing applications. The deflector should be used to overcome existing limitations in free space communications and variable optical attenuators.