US Patent 11940711 Beam steering devices

A beam steering device includes a substrate with a first refractive index that defines a cavity, an electroactive material in the cavity that has a variable refractive index, and two sets of opposing overlays. The overlays in one set of opposing overlays are parallel to each other, while the overlays in the other set are tilted with respect to each other. This allows one or more electric fields between the overlays to be used to align the electroactive material in two different directions to change its refractive index, allowing for a faster speed of beam steering through refraction than conventional approaches.