A compact high-performance optical control system for phased array radars

A novel optical control system using nematic liquid crystals and acoustooptic devices is introduced. It can provide compact, lightweight, low-cost, transmit/receive mode, high-performance (<6 b), truly analog, 0-2 pi phase control for large (e.g., 5000-element) phased arrays. Modulo-2 pi phase control was demonstrated for a 120-MHz carrier, with a carrier-to-noise ratio of 116.8 dB/Hz at 1 MHz and a signal dynamic range of 55.5 dB at 1 MHz. A novel time-multiplexed, two-channel, radar beam scanning approach is introduced to provide fast 200-beam/s antenna scanning rates.<
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