Multi-beam multi-aperture optical beam steering module for military multimission hardware

This paper introduces a stationary agile multi-beam multi-aperture optical payload for military multimission hardware. With a near 4/spl pi/ field of regards (FOR), the payload independently steers "N/spl times/M" laser beams at different wavelengths to increase the link availability of a node to form a robust network. The core component is a fast beam steering element made from a proprietary liquid crystal configuration that features microsecond steering speed. Another innovative component for the multi-beam steering operation is a liquid crystal based fan-out switch which fans-out one laser beam into variable multiple beams. In this paper, design considerations will be given together with the specs such as operation distance, field of view, beam width, beam steering speed, beam number, laser power, efficiency, wavelength hopping, and environmental stability.