Liquid crystal beam steering angle expander for LiDAR applications

A novel beam steering angle expander is demonstrated by cascading two polymeric liquid crystal polarization lenses with different diopters. The lens module performs as a planar telescope, which has features such as a light weight, low cost, and high precision. The magnifier offers wide-angle, continuous steering when integrated with an active fine-angle beam steering device. The potential application for LiDAR is emphasized.