Slow-Light Waveguide Provides Beam-Steering Capabilities for Lidar
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Jan. 21, 2020 — In the field of lidar, where speed is often valued above other variables, a team from Yokohama National University is using “slow light” to develop compact, easy-to-use, 3D sensors with nonmechanical beam-steering capabilities. “Currently existing optical beam-steering devices all use some kind of mechanics, such as rotary mirrors,” professor Toshihiko Baba said. “This makes the device large and heavy, with limited overall speed and a high cost.”