  Over the last decade, Optical Phased Arrays (OPA) have been extensively
studied, targeting applications such as Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR)
systems, holographic displays, atmospheric monitoring and free space
communications. Leveraging the maturity of the silicon photonics platform, the
usual mechanical based beam steering system could be replaced by an integrated
OPA, significantly reducing the cost and size of the LiDAR while improving its
performance (scanning speed, power efficiency, resolution) thanks to solid
state beam steering. However, the realization of an OPA that meets the
specifications of a LiDAR system (low divergence and single output beam) is not
trivial. Targeting the realization of a complete LiDAR system, the technical
challenges inherent to the development of high performance OPAs have been
studied at CEA LETI. In particular, efficient genetic algorithms have been
developed for the calibration of high channel count OPAs as well as an advanced
measurement setup compatible with wafer-scale OPA characterization.
