Optical multi-beam forming method based on a liquid crystal optical phased array

Three multi-beam forming methods based on optical phased array technology are presented in this paper. These methods can achieve simultaneous multiple-beam pointing in the optical band. The principles of these methods are introduced, the far-field pattern calculation formulas of the subaperture method and the array division multiplexing method are derived, and the algorithm flow of the iterative Fourier transform method is described in detail. Simulations and experiments have been conducted to verify the validity of these methods.