Dual beam deflection of liquid crystal optical phased array

Dual beam deflection models based on one dimensional liquid crystal optical phased array (LCOPA) are discussed and compared in this letter. The far-field diffraction performance of the models is influenced by various impact factors, such as fill factor and fringing electric fields. For optimizing far-field diffraction performance, the combined influence of different impact factors is analyzed and a phase iterative algorithm which use the root-mean-square (RMS) phase deviation as a performance index is presented. The proposed algorithm is able to reduce phase deviation and improve the performance of far-field diffraction pattern at the same time. The simulation and experiments used in the letter effectively verify the proposed algorithm.