An optical phased array for incoherent light imaging applications

Recent advances in silicon photonics have enabled large-scale optical phased arrays for applications such as beam steering and directional light detection. However, to date, these results have only been applied to coherent light. Many applications, including passive imaging with natural illumination, require operation using incoherent and/or broadband light. Here we implement an optical phased array designed for these applications using a planar, fractal, pathlength-matching architecture known as an “H-tree”. We demonstrate electronic beamsteering and natural light imaging using this flat, broadband, photonic-integrated device.