Title: A New Method of Imaging: Photonic Integrated Interferometric Telescopes (PIITs)
Presenting Author: S. J. Ben Yoo
Organization: University of California, Davis
Co-Author(s): Tiehui Su, Guangyao Liu, Chad Ogden, Samuel T. Thurman, Richard L. Kendrick, Alan Duncan, Runxiang Yu, and Weicheng Lai

Abstract:
Our desires to image remote objects with fine details have driven many scientists to develop telescopes with high-quality bulk optics in best-known configurations since the 17th century. Hans Lippershey's spyglass telescopes in 1608 have prompted Galilei Galileo to make a new 10x telescope by grinding his lenses and placing them in a tube. Fast forwarding to 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope of 13m x 4.2m size and 11,110 kg weight have been placed on orbit by a space shuttle and continues to send remarkable images that led us to new scientific understandings. These telescopes relied on large aperture lenses or reflectors placed accurately in large tubes. We discuss a new low-mass, low-volume alternative to the traditional bulky optical telescope and a focal plane detector array. The Segmented Planar Imaging Detector for EO Reconnaissance (SPIDER) concept developed in collaboration with the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center consists of millions of direct detection white-light interferometers densely packed onto photonic integrated circuits (PICs) to measure the amplitude and phase of the visibility function at spatial frequencies that span the full synthetic aperture. The conventional approach for imaging interferometers requires complex mechanical delay lines to form the interference fringes resulting in designs that are not traceable to more than a few simultaneous spatial frequency measurements. SPIDER achieves this traceability by employing micron-scale optical waveguides and nano-photonic structures fabricated on a silicon PIC with micron scale packing density to achieve a 10−100 reduction in the imager's size and mass, impacting a wide range of future scientific applications. We will discuss recently demonstrated 2D photonic integrate circuits (PICs) providing interferometric imaging and new generations of 3D PIC concepts for future SPIDERs.