A compact 3D imaging laser radar system using Geiger-mode APD arrays: system and measurements

Marino, Richard M.; Stephens, Timothy; Hatch, R. E.; McLaughlin, Joseph L.; Mooney, James; O’Brien, M.; Rowe, G. S.; Adams, J. S.; Skelly, Luke; Knowlton, Robert C.; Forman, S.E.; Davis, W.

doi:10.1117/12.501581

Cited by 63 publications

(34 citation statements)

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“…Consequently, for the detection of single photons in the wavelength range from Manuscript 0.9 to 1.6 μm, GmAPDs based on the InGaAsP material system have proven to be a preferred sensor technology. Recent advances in InGaAsP-based GmAPDs have emphasized higher counting rates and integration of the devices into large-format arrays [6], [7], and one of the most important drivers for these advances is the deployment of GmAPD focal plane arrays (FPAs) in three-dimensional (3-D) imaging laser radar (LADAR) systems [3], [8]. These systems-also described as light detection and ranging (LIDAR) imagingexploit time-of-flight measurements at every pixel of the FPA to create 3-D point clouds that can be processed to create 3-D images.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dark Count Statistics in Geiger-Mode Avalanche Photodiode Cameras for 3-D Imaging LADAR

Itzler

Krishnamachari

Entwistle

et al. 2014

IEEE J. Select. Topics Quantum Electron.

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We describe cameras incorporating focal plane arrays of Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes (GmAPDs) that enable 3-D imaging in laser radar (LADAR) systems operating at wavelengths near 1.0 and 1.5 μm. GmAPDs based on the InGaAsP material system achieve single-photon sensitivity at every pixel of the array and are hybridized to custom CMOS ROICs providing 0.25 ns timing resolution. We present camera-level performance for photon detection efficiency and dark count rate, along with a survey of the evolution of performance for a substantial number of 32 × 32 cameras. We then describe a temporal statistical analysis of the array-level dark count behavior that distinguishes between Poissonian intrinsic dark count rate and non-Poissonian crosstalk counts. We also report the spatial analysis of crosstalk events to complement the statistical temporal analysis. Differences between cameras optimized for the two different wavelengths-1.0 and 1.5 μm-are noted, particularly with regard to crosstalk behavior.Index Terms-Single-photon, avalanche photodiode (APD), Geiger mode, laser radar (LADAR), three-dimensional (3-D) imaging, short-wave infrared (SWIR).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dark Count Statistics in Geiger-Mode Avalanche Photodiode Cameras for 3-D Imaging LADAR

Itzler

Krishnamachari

Entwistle

et al. 2014

IEEE J. Select. Topics Quantum Electron.

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“…Lincoln Laboratory has developed 3D imaging laser radar systems with passively Q-switched diode-pumped solid-state microchip lasers and arrays of avalanche photodiodes operating in the Geiger mode [1][2][3]. When entire scene is flood illuminated with a laser pulse, the backscattered light is imaged onto a two-dimensional array of detectors [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GPU-accelerated Computation of 3D Laser Radar Range Imaging of Arbitrary Coarse Targets

Lin

et al. 2012

2012 IEEE 18th International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Systems

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We report here a backscattering model of average signal power function (SPF) for laser radar 3D range imagery obtained by arrays of detectors for arbitrary coarse targets. The model relates the average power seen by the receiver with laser pulse, target shape, optical scattering properties of surface material, incidence angle and other factors. The optical scattering property of the material is characterized by bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). The model can be used for demonstration of 3D laser radar system and can also be used to generate library of model data sets for automatic target recognition (ATR). Finally, Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) is introduced for parallelizing these algorithms. The acceleration reaches 56 times speedup on single Fermi-generation NVIDIA GTX 480 as compared to the traditional CPU version of code on Intel i7 930 CPU.

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“…[12][13][14][15] MIT/LL has made Geiger mode APD cameras with up to 6464 × 256256 detectors. They started with a 3232 × 3232 array.…”

Section: Geiger Mode Apd Based Flash 3-d Ladarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of ladar: a historic, yet emerging, sensor technology with rich phenomenology

McManamon¹

2012

Opt. Eng

200

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Abstract. Ladar is becoming more prominent due to the maturation of its component technologies, especially lasers. There are many forms of ladar. There is simple two-dimensional (2-D) ladar, similar to a passive electro-optic sensor, but with controlled illumination and the ability to see at night even at short wavelengths. There is three-dimensional (3-D) ladar, with angle/angle/range information. 3-D images are very powerful because shape is an invariant. 3-D images can be easily rotated to various perspectives. You can add gray scale or color, just like passive, or 2-D ladar, imaging. You can add precise velocity measurement, including vibrations. Ladar generates orders of magnitude higher frequency change then microwave radar for velocity measurement, because frequency change is proportional to one over the wavelength. Orders of magnitude higher frequency change means you can measure a given velocity orders of magnitude quicker, in many cases making an accurate measurement possible. Polarization can be used. With an active sensor you control both the illumination and the reception, so you can pattern the illumination. Also, because ladar can use narrow band illumination it is easier to easier to coherently combine sub-aperture images to obtain the higher resolution of an array.

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A compact 3D imaging laser radar system using Geiger-mode APD arrays: system and measurements

Cited by 63 publications

References 0 publications

Dark Count Statistics in Geiger-Mode Avalanche Photodiode Cameras for 3-D Imaging LADAR

Dark Count Statistics in Geiger-Mode Avalanche Photodiode Cameras for 3-D Imaging LADAR

GPU-accelerated Computation of 3D Laser Radar Range Imaging of Arbitrary Coarse Targets

Review of ladar: a historic, yet emerging, sensor technology with rich phenomenology

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