Quadrant response model and error analysis of four-quadrant detectors related to the non-uniform spot and blind area

Abstract

In the system of tracking and detection based on the four-quadrant detector (4-QD), the energy distribution of the incident spot and the blind area of the photosensitive surface will affect the location accuracy. The current model of the spot is based on the ideal circular Gauss spot, which makes the error caused by the spot shape easily ignored. In this paper, the model of the spot energy distribution is improved, which can adapt to the elliptical Gauss distribution. The width of the blind area is also added to the response models of the detector so that the output of each quadrant and the error of the localization algorithm can be calculated more accurately. The simulation results show that the measurement accuracy of 4-QD decreases with the increase of the blind area, the shape, and the inclination of the light spot. In the experiment, we first verify the correctness and practicability of the improved model of the spot energy distribution, and then the improved model is proved to be able to make the response and error calculation more accurate.