Coherence artifacts suppression in integrated photonic systems

A method of forming an image of a target, the method comprising:

• activating a first subset of the receiving elements of an optical phased array during a first time interval to capture first data representative of a first image of a target;
• activating a second subset of the receiving elements of the optical phased array during a second time interval to capture second data representative of a second image of a target;
• and
• combining the first and second data to generate a third image of the target.

An optical phased array comprising:

• a first transmitting element having a first polarization and adapted to transmit a first optical signal along the first polarization direction toward a target;
• a second transmitting element having a second polarization and adapted to transmit a second optical signal along the second polarization direction toward the target;
• a first receiving element having the first polarization and adapted to receive the first optical signal reflected off the target;
• and
• a second receiving element having the second polarization and adapted to receive the second optical signal reflected off the target;
• and
• a controller configured to form an image of the target in accordance with the first and second received optical signals.

An optical phased array comprising:

• a first transmitter to generate a first illumination pattern on a target;
• a second transmitter to generate a second illumination pattern on the target;
• a receiver array that collects light reflected off the target in response to the first and second illumination patterns;
• and
• a controller configured to operate the first and second transmitters during first and second non-overlapping time intervals thereby to form an image of the target by combining outputs of the receiver.

An optical phased array comprising of:

• an array of transmitting elements each adapted to illuminate a target with an optical signal;
• a receiver array adapted to receive the optical signals reflected off the target;
• a controller configured to:
• vary a phase and an amplitude of the signal transmitted by each transmitting element thereby to cause the transmitting elements to generate a first illumination pattern during a first time interval and a second illumination pattern during the second time interval, said first and second time intervals being non-overlapping time intervals;
• and
• combine the optical signals received by the receiver array during the first and second time intervals to form an image of the target.