Optical beam forming techniques for phased array antennas

Three optical beam forming techniques are identified as applicable to large spaceborne phased array antennas. They are 1) the fiber replacement of conventional RF phased array distribution and control components, 2) spatial beam forming, and 3) optical beam splitting techniques. Two novel optical beam forming approaches, i.e., the spatial beam forming with a “smart pixel” spatial light modulator (SLM) and the optical beam splitting approaches are conceived with integrated quasi-optical components. Also presented are the transmit and receive array architectures with the new SLM.