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An emergent electro-optic technology platform, liquid crystal (LC) waveguides, will be presented with a focus on performance attributes that may be relevant to coded aperture approaches. As a low cost and low SWaP alternative to more traditional approaches (e.g. galvos, MEMs, traditional EO techniques, etc.), LC-Waveguides provide a new technique for switching, phase shifting, steering, focusing, and generally controlling light. LC-waveguides provide tremendous continuous voltage control over optical phase delays (> 2mm demonstrated), with very low loss (< 0.5 dB/cm) and rapid response time. The electro-evanescent architecture exploits the tremendous electro-optic response of liquid crystals (can be > one million pm/Volts) while circumventing their historic limitations; speeds can be in the microseconds and LC scattering losses can be reduced by orders of magnitude from conventional LC optics. This enables a new class of photonic devices: very wide analog non-mechanical beamsteerers (270� demonstrated), chip-scale widely tunable lasers (50 nm demonstrated), chip-scale Fourier transform spectrometers (< 5 nm resolution demonstrated), widely tunable micro-ring resonators, tunable lenses (fl tuning from 5 mm to infinity demonstrated), ultra-low power (< 5 microWatts) optical switches, true optical time delay devices (12 nsecs demonstrated) for phased array antennas, and many more. Both the limitations and the opportunity provided by this technology for use in coded aperture schemes will be discussed.

Jet Propulsion Lab and Vescent Photonics Inc. and are jointly developing an innovative ultracompact (volume < 10 cm3), ultra-low power (<10-3Watt-hours per measurement and zero power consumption when not measuring), completely non-mechanical Liquid Crystal Waveguide Fourier Transform Spectrometer (LCWFTS) that will be suitable for a variety of remote-platform, in-situ measurements. These devices are made possible by novel electro-evanescent waveguide architecture, enabling "monolithic chip-scale" Electro Optic-FTS (EO-FTS) sensors. The potential performance of these EO-FTS sensors include: i) a spectral range throughout 0.4-5 m (25000 - 2000 cm-1), ii) high-resolution ( ≤ 0.1 nm), iii) high-speed (< 1 ms) measurements, and iv) rugged integrated optical construction. This performance potential enables the detection and quantification of a large number of different atmospheric gases simultaneously in the same air mass and the rugged construction will enable deployment on previously inaccessible platforms. The sensor construction is also amenable for analyzing aqueous samples on remote floating or submerged platforms. We will report a proof-of-principle prototype LCWFTS sensor that has been demonstrated in the near-IR (range of 1450-1700 nm) with a 5 nm resolution. This performance is in good agreement with theoretical models, which are being used to design and build the next generation LCWFTS devices.