Patent ID: 7382983

Claim:
An optical control type phased array antenna, comprising: laser generating means for generating a light having a single wavelength; optical path branching means for branching the emitted light from the laser generating means into first and second transmission lights; high frequency signal generating means for generating a high frequency signal; optical frequency modulating means for shifting a frequency of the first transmission light obtained through the branching by the optical path branching means by a frequency of the generated high frequency signal; spatial light phase modulating means for carrying out spatial phase modulation corresponding to an antenna beam pattern for the first transmission light having the frequency shifted by the frequency of the generated high frequency signal; optical path branching/multiplexing means for multiplexing the first transmission light subjected to the phase modulation and the second transmission light obtained through the branching by the optical path branching means; aperture dividing/light collecting means for dividing one transmission light obtained through the branching of the transmission light obtained through the multiplexing by the optical path branching/multiplexing means into a plurality of transmission lights; a plurality of optoelectronic converting means for converting light intensities of the plurality of pairs of transmission lights into electrical signals, respectively; and a plurality of element antennas for radiating the electrical signals from the plurality of optoelectronic converting means as beams, respectively, wherein optical path lengths of two paths between the optical path branching means and the optical path branching/multiplexing means are equalized.