On Laser Ranging Based on High-Speed/Energy Laser Diode Pulses and Single-Photon Detection Techniques

Abstract

This paper discusses the construction principles and performance of a pulsed time-of-flight (TOF) laser radar based on high-speed (FWHM ~100 ps) and high-energy (~1 nJ) optical transmitter pulses produced with a specific laser diode working in an “enhanced gain-switching” regime and based on single-photon detection in the receiver. It is shown by analysis and experiments that single-shot precision at the level of 2W3 cm is achievable. The effective measurement rate can exceed 10 kHz to a noncooperative target (20% reflectivity) at a distance of > 50 m, with an effective receiver aperture size of 2.5 cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> . The effect of background illumination is analyzed. It is shown that the gating of the SPAD detector is an effective means to avoid the blocking of the receiver in a high-level background illumination case. A brief comparison with pulsed TOF laser radars employing linear detection techniques is also made.