OPAL

The project goals were:

• To develop know-how on market valuable integrated photonics sensing application
• To improve SAL CR processing capabilities
• To investigate approaches for optical and electronics co-packaging

The project started by evaluating the major requirements a LiDAR should satisfy, especially if applied in the automotive market. Key specifications for this project were angular resolution and field of view. We defined then the best PIC platform for the circuit integration, and the best supplier for chip fabrication. Simulation, design and circuit layout was completed in-house, while fabrication was done externally. The chips received at SAL were assembled and fully tested.

The final demonstrator consists of an optical phased array integrated on chip, assembled with a printed circuit board and dedicated control electronics.