Optical Beam Steering Using a Multichannel Lithium Tantalate Crystal

A multichannel phase modulator is described which employs the electrooptic roperties of lithium tantalate to achieve phase modulation. The modulator's speed and 2pi voltage are compatible with high speed microelectronics. The beam steering properties of this one-dimensional optical phased array antenna are described, and the beam steering results for a forty-six-channel modulator are given.