End-Fire Optical Phased Array for Passive Beam Steering on Thin Film Lithium Niobate

Autonomous driving technology has put forward higher requirements for sensors, including light detection and ranging. An optical phased array (OPA) is a viable solution, and numerous efforts have been made in this area. For its outstanding optical properties such as linear electro-optic effect and low optical loss, lithium niobate exhibits great potential and unique advantages in solid-state light-emitting arrays. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate an end-fire optical phased array on a thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) for passive beam steering. Furthermore, based on this work, we propose a three-line optical phased array to achieve a larger beam steering range. Our results provide a solution for the integrated optical phased array that shows potential in sensing and imaging with reduced size and power.