Patents by Inventor Stephen P. Palese

Stephen P. Palese has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11962346
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array, where the optical phased array includes multiple unit cells. Each unit cell includes (i) an antenna element configured to transmit or receive optical signals and (ii) a phase modulator configured to modify phases of the optical signals being transmitted or received by the antenna element. The apparatus also includes a gyroscopic sensor configured to sense movement of the photonic integrated circuit, where at least a portion of the gyroscopic sensor is integrated within the photonic integrated circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: Stephen P. Palese, Duane D. Smith, Amit Bhatia
  • Patent number: 11962350
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array, where the optical phased array includes multiple unit cells. Each unit cell includes (i) at least one antenna element configured to transmit or receive optical signals and (ii) a modulator configured to phase-shift the optical signals transmitted or received by the antenna element. Each unit cell is configured to transmit or receive light having multiple polarizations in the optical signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: Stephen P. Palese, Richard L. Kendrick
  • Patent number: 11934048
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit, which includes at least one splitter configured to split at least one input beam into multiple input beamlets and multiple phase modulators configured to phase-shift at least some of the input beamlets. The apparatus also includes an array of optical amplifiers configured to amplify the phase-shifted input beamlets and generate amplified beamlets. The apparatus further incudes a beam combiner configured to combine the amplified beamlets and generate an output beam. In addition, the apparatus includes a controller configured to control the phase modulators in order to adjust phasing of the phase-shifted input beamlets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: Stephen P. Palese, Avram Bar-Cohen
  • Publication number: 20240056184
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array, where the optical phased array includes multiple unit cells. Each unit cell includes (i) an antenna element configured to transmit or receive optical signals and (ii) a phase modulator configured to modify phases of the optical signals being transmitted or received by the antenna element. The apparatus also includes a gyroscopic sensor configured to sense movement of the photonic integrated circuit, where at least a portion of the gyroscopic sensor is integrated within the photonic integrated circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2022
    Publication date: February 15, 2024
    Inventors: Stephen P. Palese, Duane D. Smith, Amit Bhatia
  • Patent number: 11894873
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array, where the optical phased array includes multiple unit cells. Each unit cell includes multiple antenna elements configured to transmit or receive optical signals, where a first subset of the antenna elements is oriented in a first direction and a second subset of the antenna elements is oriented in a second direction opposite the first direction. Each unit cell also includes multiple signal pathways configured to transport the optical signals to or from the antenna elements, where at least some of the signal pathways have an “H” configuration. Each unit cell further includes multiple phase modulators configured to modify phases of the optical signals being transported through the signal pathways.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: Stephen P. Palese, Richard L. Kendrick, Moe D. Soltani
  • Patent number: 11888515
    Abstract: A method includes obtaining a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array. The optical phased array includes multiple unit cells, and each unit cell includes (i) an antenna element configured to transmit or receive optical signals and (ii) a modulator configured to modify phases of the optical signals. The method also includes identifying center wavelengths of the modulators in the optical phased array. The method further includes directing ultraviolet illumination onto at least a subset of the unit cells simultaneously in order to change the center wavelengths of at least a subset of the modulators in the optical phased array. In addition, the method includes monitoring changes to the center wavelengths of at least the subset of the modulators in the optical phased array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventor: Stephen P. Palese
  • Publication number: 20240022324
    Abstract: A method includes obtaining a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array. The optical phased array includes multiple unit cells, and each unit cell includes (i) an antenna element configured to transmit or receive optical signals and (ii) a modulator configured to modify phases of the optical signals. The method also includes identifying center wavelengths of the modulators in the optical phased array. The method further includes directing ultraviolet illumination onto at least a subset of the unit cells simultaneously in order to change the center wavelengths of at least a subset of the modulators in the optical phased array. In addition, the method includes monitoring changes to the center wavelengths of at least the subset of the modulators in the optical phased array.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2022
    Publication date: January 18, 2024
    Inventor: Stephen P. Palese
  • Publication number: 20240007185
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array, where the optical phased array includes multiple unit cells. Each unit cell includes multiple antenna elements configured to transmit or receive optical signals, where a first subset of the antenna elements is oriented in a first direction and a second subset of the antenna elements is oriented in a second direction opposite the first direction. Each unit cell also includes multiple signal pathways configured to transport the optical signals to or from the antenna elements, where at least some of the signal pathways have an “H” configuration. Each unit cell further includes multiple phase modulators configured to modify phases of the optical signals being transported through the signal pathways.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2022
    Publication date: January 4, 2024
    Inventors: Stephen P. Palese, Richard L. Kendrick, Moe D. Soltani
  • Publication number: 20230417985
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array and multiple arms. The optical phased array includes multiple unit cells, and each unit cell includes an antenna element configured to transmit or receive optical signals. The multiple arms are configured to modify the optical signals transmitted or received by the optical phased array. Each arm is controllable to provide at least one of temporal squint correction and frequency dispersion squint correction. The photonic integrated circuit may include electro-optic modulators, and the electro-optic modulators may be configured to provide controllable delays to the optical signals transmitted or received by the optical phased array.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2022
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Inventor: Stephen P. Palese
  • Publication number: 20230400628
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array, where the optical phased array includes multiple unit cells. Each unit cell includes at least one antenna element configured to transmit or receive multiple optical signals having spectrally-distinct wavelengths or wavelength ranges. Each unit cell also includes at least one signal pathway configured to transport the optical signals to or from the at least one antenna element. Each unit cell further includes a phase modulator configured to modify phases of the optical signals being transported through the at least one signal pathway. Each unit cell is configured to provide correlated phase shifts to the optical signals having the spectrally-distinct wavelengths or wavelength ranges.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2022
    Publication date: December 14, 2023
    Inventor: Stephen P. Palese
  • Publication number: 20230367063
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having multiple cells. Each cell includes first and second antenna elements, where the first antenna element is configured to receive a portion of optical energy and the second antenna element is configured to transmit the portion of the optical energy. Each cell also includes a signal pathway configured to transport the portion of the optical energy between the first and second antenna elements. Each cell further includes a phase modulator configured to adjust a phase of the portion of the optical energy transported over the signal pathway. The apparatus also includes multiple wavefront sensors configured to measure wavefront errors in the portions of the optical energy. The apparatus further includes multiple phase controllers configured to adjust operation of the phase modulators in order to at least partially reduce the wavefront errors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2022
    Publication date: November 16, 2023
    Inventor: Stephen P. Palese
  • Patent number: 11815714
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having a first lenslet array and a first antenna element array forming a first pupil of the photonic integrated circuit and a second lenslet array and a second antenna element array forming a second pupil of the photonic integrated circuit, where the second pupil has a different size than the first pupil. The photonic integrated circuit also has a waveguide layer positioned between the first and second pupils, where the waveguide layer includes multiple waveguides configured to guide optical signals between antenna elements of the first antenna element array and antenna elements of the second antenna element array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: Richard L. Kendrick, Joseph Marron, Stephen P. Palese
  • Publication number: 20230344517
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array, where the optical phased array includes multiple unit cells. Each unit cell includes an antenna element configured to transmit or receive optical signals having a linear polarization of light. Each unit cell also includes a modulator configured to phase-shift the optical signals transmitted or received by the antenna element. Each unit cell further includes a quarter waveplate configured to convert between the linear polarization of light and a circular polarization of light.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2022
    Publication date: October 26, 2023
    Inventors: Stephen P. Palese, Duane D. Smith
  • Publication number: 20230288634
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having a first lenslet array and a first antenna element array forming a first pupil of the photonic integrated circuit and a second lenslet array and a second antenna element array forming a second pupil of the photonic integrated circuit, where the second pupil has a different size than the first pupil. The photonic integrated circuit also has a waveguide layer positioned between the first and second pupils, where the waveguide layer includes multiple waveguides configured to guide optical signals between antenna elements of the first antenna element array and antenna elements of the second antenna element array.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2022
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Inventors: Richard L. Kendrick, Joseph Marron, Stephen P. Palese
  • Publication number: 20230291480
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array, where the optical phased array includes multiple unit cells. Each unit cell includes (i) at least one antenna element configured to transmit or receive optical signals and (ii) a modulator configured to phase-shift the optical signals transmitted or received by the antenna element. Each unit cell is configured to transmit or receive light having multiple polarizations in the optical signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2022
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Inventors: Stephen P. Palese, Richard L. Kendrick
  • Patent number: 11716141
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit having an optical phased array, where the optical phased array includes multiple unit cells. Each unit cell includes (i) an antenna element configured to receive optical signals and (ii) a modulator configured to phase-shift the optical signals received by the antenna element. Multiple subgroups of the unit cells in the optical phased array are configured to generate multiple combined optical signals based on the received optical signals. The apparatus also includes at least one of: (i) amplitude adjusters configured to modify amplitudes of the combined optical signals in order to compensate for amplitude modulations across a receive aperture of the optical phased array and (ii) phase modulators configured to modify phases of the combined optical signals in order to compensate for phase modulations across the receive aperture of the optical phased array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventor: Stephen P. Palese
  • Patent number: 11476576
    Abstract: A device includes a photonic integrated circuit (PIC), which includes an optical phased array. The optical phased array includes multiple array elements, where each array element includes (i) an antenna element configured to transmit or receive optical signals and (ii) a phase modulator configured to modulate the optical signals transmitted or received by the antenna element. The PIC also includes at least one of (i) a source laser configured to generate optical energy, where the antenna elements are configured to transmit the optical signals based on the optical energy, and (ii) a receiver configured to receive and process the optical signals received by the antenna elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: Stephen P. Palese, Moe D. Soltani, Thomas R. Yengst, Charley A. Fodran, Joseph Marron, Duane D. Smith, Alexander Niechayev, Jeffrey P. Tate, James G. Leatham
  • Publication number: 20220255221
    Abstract: A device includes a photonic integrated circuit (PIC), which includes an optical phased array. The optical phased array includes multiple array elements, where each array element includes (i) an antenna element configured to transmit or receive optical signals and (ii) a phase modulator configured to modulate the optical signals transmitted or received by the antenna element. The PIC also includes at least one of (i) a source laser configured to generate optical energy, where the antenna elements are configured to transmit the optical signals based on the optical energy, and (ii) a receiver configured to receive and process the optical signals received by the antenna elements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 11, 2021
    Publication date: August 11, 2022
    Inventors: Stephen P. Palese, Moe D. Soltani, Thomas R. Yengst, Charley A. Fodran, Joseph Marron, Duane D. Smith, Alexander Niechayev, Jeffrey P. Tate, James G. Leatham
  • Publication number: 20220252908
    Abstract: A method includes generating a mixed optical beam using an optical phased array that includes multiple array elements, where each array element includes an antenna element and a phase modulator. The mixed optical beam includes a combination of (i) an output optical beam produced by the optical phased array and (ii) a reference optical beam. The method also includes capturing near-field measurements of the mixed optical beam, where the near-field measurements are captured while scanning phase angles of the phase modulators. The method further includes generating calibration data based on the near-field measurements, where the calibration data identifies phase and amplitude responses of the array elements. In addition, the method includes storing the calibration data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 11, 2021
    Publication date: August 11, 2022
    Inventors: Niraj K. Inamdar, Stephen P. Palese, Aaron B. Potter, Thomas R. Yengst
  • Publication number: 20220244578
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a photonic integrated circuit, which includes at least one splitter configured to split at least one input beam into multiple input beamlets and multiple phase modulators configured to phase-shift at least some of the input beamlets. The apparatus also includes an array of optical amplifiers configured to amplify the phase-shifted input beamlets and generate amplified beamlets. The apparatus further incudes a beam combiner configured to combine the amplified beamlets and generate an output beam. In addition, the apparatus includes a controller configured to control the phase modulators in order to adjust phasing of the phase-shifted input beamlets.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2021
    Publication date: August 4, 2022
    Inventors: Stephen P. Palese, Avram Bar-Cohen