Optimum Integrated Heterodyne Photoreceiver for Coherent Lidar Applications

Abstract

AbstractMany coherent lidar applications, particularly airborne and space-based applications, impose stringent power and size constraints while requiring high levels of sensitivity. For this reason, optimization of the lidar heterodyne photoreceiver is one of the critical steps in ensuring full utilization of limited resources to achieve the required sensitivity. The analysis of 2-micron heterodyne receivers shows that substantial improvement of the order of 3 dB can be obtained by proper optimization of the receiver key control parameters and elimination of its parasitic capacitances by integrating the detector, its bias circuit, and the preamplifier on a single substrate. This paper describes analytical steps for defining optimum heterodyne receiver design parameters and development of experimental devices operating at 2-micron wavelength.