Compact laser radar based on a subnanosecond laser diode transmitter and a two-dimensional CMOS single-photon receiver

Jaakko Huikari; Sahba Jahromi; Jussi-Pekka Jansson; Juha Kostamovaara

doi:10.1117/1.OE.57.2.024104

19 February 2018 Compact laser radar based on a subnanosecond laser diode transmitter and a two-dimensional CMOS single-photon receiver

Jaakko Huikari, Sahba Jahromi, Jussi-Pekka Jansson, Juha Kostamovaara

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 57, Issue 2, 024104 (February 2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.57.2.024104

Abstract

A pulsed TOF laser radar utilizing the single-photon detection mode has been implemented, and its performance is characterized. The transmitter employs a QW double-heterostructure laser diode producing 0.6 nJ/100 ps laser pulses at a central wavelength of ∼810 nm. The detector is a single-chip IC manufactured in the standard 0.35-μm HV CMOS process, including a 9×9 single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array and a 10-channel time-to-digital converter (TDC) circuit. Both the SPAD array and the TDC circuit support a time gating feature allowing photon detection to occur only within a predefined time window. The SPAD array also supports a 3×3 SPADs subarray selection feature to respond to the laser spot wandering effect due to the paraxial optics and to reduce background radiation-induced detections. The characterization results demonstrate a distance measurement accuracy of +/−0.5 mm to a target at 34 m having 11% reflectivity. The signal detection rate is 28% at a laser pulsing rate of 100 kHz. The single-shot precision of the laser radar is ∼20 mm (FWHM). The deteriorating impact of high-level background radiation conditions on the SNR is demonstrated, as also is a scheme to improve this by means of detector time gating.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Jaakko Huikari, Sahba Jahromi, Jussi-Pekka Jansson, and Juha Kostamovaara "Compact laser radar based on a subnanosecond laser diode transmitter and a two-dimensional CMOS single-photon receiver," Optical Engineering 57(2), 024104 (19 February 2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.57.2.024104

Received: 20 November 2017; Accepted: 30 January 2018; Published: 19 February 2018

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Cited by 12 scholarly publications.

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KEYWORDS

Semiconductor lasers

LIDAR

Target detection

Receivers

Sensors

Signal detection

Transmitters

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