Custom freeform optics for LiDAR applications: from design to fabrication

We present the design and fabrication of a multicomponent optical system for LiDAR applications. The system comprises four stages: a commercial cylindrical lens, a custom freeform trilobe lens, a set of three custom reflective diffraction gratings, and a custom monolithic array of nine freeform mirrors. This optical set-up is coupled to an on-chip linear Optical Phase Array (OPA): the combination of linear beam steering provided by the OPA, and orthogonal linear steering achieved by the diffraction gratings results in a beam scan over nine directions in 3D. All the custom components have been designed and fabricated at VUB B-PHOT's Photonics Innovation Center.