Microrod compression of laser beam in combination with transmit lens

A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device, comprising:

• a plurality of light sources, wherein each light source is configured to emit partially collimated light;
• a plurality of detectors, wherein each detector in the plurality of detectors is associated with a respective light source in the plurality of light sources;
• a first mirror, wherein the first mirror is configured to reflect the partially collimated light from the light sources;
• a second mirror, wherein the second mirror is configured to rotate about an axis;
• and
• a lens, wherein the lens is configured to (i) receive, via the first mirror, the partially collimated light from the light sources, (ii) collimate the partially collimated light from the light sources to provide collimated light, wherein the second mirror is configured to reflect the collimated light from the lens into an environment of the LIDAR device, and (iii) focus, via a focusing path, onto each detector any object-reflected light from the detector's associated light source that has reflected from one or more objects in the environment of the LIDAR device, wherein the second mirror is configured to reflect the object-reflected light from the environment into the lens,
• wherein the first mirror partially obstructs the focusing path.

A method comprising:

• emitting an uncollimated laser beam from a laser diode, wherein the uncollimated laser beam has a first divergence in a first direction and a second divergence in a second direction, and wherein the first divergence is greater than the second divergence;
• pre-collimating the uncollimated laser beam in the first direction to provide a partially collimated laser beam, wherein the partially collimated laser beam has a third divergence in the first direction and a fourth divergence in the second direction, and wherein the third divergence is less than the fourth divergence and the fourth divergence is substantially equal to the second divergence;
• collimating, by a lens, the partially collimated laser beam to provide a collimated laser beam;
• transmitting the collimated laser beam into an environment;
• collecting object-reflected light, wherein the object-reflected light comprises light from the collimated laser beam that has reflected from one or more objects in the environment;
• and
• focusing, by the lens, the object-reflected light through a focusing path onto a detector, wherein the lens receives the partially collimated laser beam via a plane mirror that partially obstructs the focusing path.