Non-mechanical three-dimensional LiDAR system based on flash and beam-scanning dually modulated photonic crystal lasers

Abstract

We propose and develop a new type of non-mechanical three-dimensional (3D) light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system, which integrates a beam-scanning-type laser source and a flash-type laser source. Employing on-chip dually modulated photonic crystal lasers for both flash and beam-scanning sources, we develop a LiDAR system that is small enough to fit in the palm of the hand. This system is capable of measuring poorly reflective objects in the field of view (FoV) by selectively illuminating these objects with sufficient power by the beam-scanning laser, thereby overcoming the intrinsic issue affecting conventional flash-type 3D LiDAR systems. In addition, we develop and implement a program to have the LiDAR system automatically recognize poorly reflective objects in the FoV and measure their distances by selective illumination. Furthermore, we use the LiDAR system to perform long-distance ranging while including a poorly reflective object in the FoV.