A deformable mirror-based optical beamforming system for phased array antennas

Microwave carrier generation along with the signal processing required for dynamic beamsteering of a high-resolution phased array antenna with an arbitrary radiation pattern is accomplished using optical components. It is shown that a deformable mirror type spatial light modulator can establish a truly arbitrary continuous optical phasefront which is directly converted to spatial RF phase information by an optical heterodyne system. Experimental results simulating the performance of the actual system are presented. A spatially integrated optical implementation providing mechanical stability and essentially eliminating the drift problems usually encountered in free space systems is presented.<>