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Light radar on a microchip

12.01.2013

Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created on a microchip an analogue of a phased array antenna, which allows you to direct light in the right direction and has the potential to create a holographic image.

The principle of operation of the device resembles modern military radars. In them, instead of a single moving source of radio pulses, a fixed array (matrix) of many individual emitters is used. The phase of the wave in these radiators is strictly controlled. Due to the interference of waves between adjacent emitters, it is possible to create a beam that is narrowly directed in a certain direction. By changing the phases in individual emitters, this beam can be made to "run" along the horizon at a speed unattainable for ordinary heavy radars.

Engineers reproduced the principle of operation of a phased antenna array on two silicon microchips. Both versions of the device are arrayed antennas connected by silicon waveguides, which receive light from an external source - a laser.

In the first, static version, there were 4096 antennas on the substrate in rows of 64 by 64. Getting on the microchip, the light from the laser propagates through the device and forms a static image with the help of interference - the logo of the MIT Institute. In the second, dynamic version, there were fewer antennas - 8 by 8 rows, but they could change their phase, due to which the resulting image moved.

The existing technology does not limit the size of the antenna array, which could potentially be very large, the engineers said. This means that such a device can become a source of holographic radiation, which can be used in engineering, medicine, or to create holographic displays.

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