Optical beam steering is key for optical communications, laser mapping (lidar), and medical imaging. For these applications, integrated photonics is an enabling technology that can provide miniaturized, lighter, lower-cost, and more power-efficient systems. However, common integrated photonic devices are too power demanding. Here, we experimentally demonstrate, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, beam steering by microelectromechanical (MEMS) actuation of a suspended silicon photonic waveguide grating. Our device shows up to 5.6° beam steering with 20 V actuation and power consumption below the μW level, i.e., more than five orders of magnitude lower power consumption than previous thermo-optic tuning methods. The novel combination of MEMS with integrated photonics presented in this work lays ground for the next generation of power-efficient optical beam steering systems.

中文翻译：

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微机电波导光栅的低功率光束转向

光束转向是光通信，激光测绘（激光雷达）和医学成像的关键。对于这些应用，集成光子学是一项启用技术，可以提供小型化，轻便，低成本和高能效的系统。然而，普通的集成光子器件对功率的要求太高。在这里，我们首次以我们所知，通过微机电（MEMS）致动悬浮硅光子波导光栅进行光束转向实验。我们的设备在20 V驱动和低于μW电平的情况下显示高达5.6°的光束转向，即与以前的热光调谐方法相比，功耗降低了五个数量级以上。