US 12474568 B2 / Nov 18, 2025

System and method for coherent aperture of steered emitters

A coherent aperture array system is used for steering an optical source beam. The system has spaced apart, steerable emitters each able to be mechanically aimed at a remote target location to steer portions of the source beam toward the target location. Each steerable emitter has a subaperture controllable independently of a remaining reflective surface of its associated steerable emitter, to receive and reflect a subportion of the source beam portion. The subportion forms a sense beam which is reflected toward a phase imaging system. A separate reference beam is created from the portion of the source beam travelling toward each steerable emitter. Each sense beam and each reference beam are thus associated uniquely with one of the steerable emitters. A phase imaging system uses the reference beams and the sense beams to determine phase differences between the portions of the source beam being transmitted from each steerable emitter.