Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a silicon photonics-based optical phased array capable of steering a laser beam over a wide angle without rotating mechanical parts.
The research was published on May 7, 2026, in the journal Nature Communications. The development could become one of the elements of future compact solid-state lidars for autonomous vehicles, drones, and industrial monitoring.
Conventional lidars often use mechanically rotating modules. They provide a wide field of view but remain relatively large, expensive, and prone to wear. Silicon photonics chips allow for electronic control of light direction, but their field of view has so far been limited by parasitic copies of the main beam.
These false beams arise when optical antennas are placed too far apart. If they are brought closer together, strong crosstalk occurs between adjacent elements, degrading signal quality.
The MIT team solved the problem using a repeating pattern of three antennas with different geometries. The differences in design prevent light from coupling between adjacent elements while maintaining similar radiation characteristics.
In the experiment, the mutual interference between antennas was reduced from approximately 100% to 1%. Based on this, the researchers created an array with half-wavelength spacing and demonstrated control of a single clean beam over a 60-degree range, without additional diffraction lobes.
"The demonstrated functionality addresses a fundamental problem in integrated optical phased arrays," noted Jelena Notaros, the senior author of the paper.
Currently, the development remains a laboratory prototype rather than a finished automotive sensor. The next challenges will be to further expand the scanning angle, increase the number of antennas, scale the electronic control system, and integrate it with other lidar components.
MIT solved a fundamental limitation of silicon photonics lidar: the grating lobe problem. Their antenna array design limits crosstalk, enabling a wide field of view without moving parts. Published in Nature Communications. Brings chip-scale lidar closer to autonomous vehicles.
If these stages are successfully completed, solid-state sensors could become more compact, cheaper, and more resistant to wear. However, their appearance in mass-produced self-driving cars will require several more cycles of development, testing, and certification.
