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Organizers:
Long Chen, Cisco, USA
Sylvie Menezo, SCINTIL Photonics, France
Milos Popovic, Boston University, USA
Shilong Pan, Nanjing Univ Aeronautics & Astronautics, China
Description:
LIDAR, i.e., “laser imaging, detection, and ranging”, is a 3D scanning technology using optical signals. Soon after the invention of lasers, LIDAR was put in use in areas such as meteorology, geography, and military applications. For example, in 1971 during the Apollo 15 mission, astronauts used a laser altimeter to map the surface of the moon. Such LIDAR instruments for remote sensing are widely used today. In addition, over the last decade, with the rapid advancements in 3D face recognition, autonomous vehicles, and industrial automation, low-cost, compact, and reliable LIDAR systems are seen as a key technology for precision sensing in many consumer and industrial applications.
This panel aims to provide a glimpse of LIDAR systems in different applications and different technology directions, and how integrated photonics can help drive down the size, cost, and improve reliabilities of LIDAR systems. In particular, the panel will discuss the pros and cons of direct detection in time-of-flight LIDAR and coherent detection in frequency-modulated continuous wave LIDAR, and their suitability in different sensing applications, and discuss the 2D scanning mechanisms, comparing mechanical beam steering with integrated photonics based solutions such as optical phase array and switched beam array.