Pseudo monostatic lidar with two-dimensional silicon photonic mems switch array
OwnerTae Joon SEOK, Ming Chiang A. WUinventors
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Abstract
The present disclosure is directed to imaging LiDARs with separate transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) optical antennas fed by different optical waveguides. This pair of optical antennas can be activated at the same time through a dual-channel optical switch network, with the Tx antenna connected to a laser source and the Rx antenna connected to a receiver. The Tx and Rx antennas can be positioned adjacent to each other, so they point to approximately the same far-field angle. No optical alignment between the Tx and Rx is necessary. This LiDAR configuration, referred to herein as pseudo-monostatic LiDAR, eliminates spurious reflections and increases the dynamic range of the LiDAR.
Claims14
(canceled)
A pseudo-monostatic photonic integrated circuit (PIC) device, comprising:
- a substrate;
- an optical antenna array comprising a plurality of paired optical antennas disposed on the substrate and forming a plurality of pixels, each pixel comprising a transmit optical antenna adjacent to a receive optical antenna, each transmit optical antenna being configured to transmit light towards a target and each receive optical antenna configured to receive light from the target;
- a light detector shared by the plurality of pixels;
- a dual-channel 1×2 optical switch shared by the plurality of pixels, the dual-channel 1×2 optical switch comprising two parallel switches connecting an optical bus waveguide to a selected transmit optical antenna and a second optical bus waveguide to the receive optical antenna paired to the selected transmit optical antenna;
- and
- a programmable optical network disposed on the substrate and configured to provide a first light path to the selected transmit optical antenna via the dual-channel 1×2 optical switch, the programmable optical network being further configured to provide a separate second light path from the receive optical antenna paired to the selected transmit optical antenna to the light detector via the dual-channel 1×2 optical switch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.