The Photo-Injected Fresnel Zone Plate Antenna: Optoelectronic Beam Steering at mm-Wave Frequencies

We present an overview of the photo-injected Fresnel zone plate antenna (piFZPA) method for non-mechanical optoelectronic beam steering. The piFZPA method enables rapid beam steering, over moderate field-of-views, at both mm-wave and submm-wave frequencies, that is suitable for a wide range of imaging and non-imaging applications. This paper develops a theoretical framework that details the design of piFZPAs and provides an understanding to, and optimization of, the piFZPA performance. As an example device, we present preliminary experimental scanning data on a transmission-type piFZPA, operating at 94 GHz, that relies on commercially available visible display technologies for plasma generation and reconfiguration. The experimental data is shown to agree well with numerical simulations and validates the theoretical framework.