Ultraviolet, infrared, and near-infrared lidar system and method
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Abstract
Pushbroom and flash lidar operations outside the visible spectrum, most preferably in near-IR but also in IR and UV, are enabled by inserting—ahead of a generally conventional lidar receiver front end—a device that receives light scattered from objects and in response forms corresponding light of a different wavelength from the scattered light. Detailed implementations using arrays of discrete COTS components—most preferably PIN diodes and VCSELs, with intervening semicustom amplifiers—are discussed, as is use of a known monolithic converter. Differential and ratioing multispectral measurements, particularly including UV data, are enabled through either spatial-sharing (e. g. plural-slit) or time-sharing.
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Citations
73 Claims
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1-38. -38. (canceled)
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39. Apparatus for detecting objects and determining their distance, to form a two-dimensional or three-dimensional image;
- said apparatus comprising;
means for receiving light scattered from such objects and in response forming and emitting a corresponding light of a different wavelength from the scattered light; and
means for accepting the emitted corresponding light that has left the receiving-and-forming means, and for distributing successive temporal components of said accepted light in a nontemporal domain, to time-resolve the accepted corresponding light to determine respective distances of such objects.
- said apparatus comprising;
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41. Apparatus for detecting objects and determining their distance, to form a two-dimensional or three-dimensional image;
- said apparatus comprising;
means for receiving light scattered from such objects and in response forming a corresponding light of a different wave-length from the scattered light; and
means for time-resolving the corresponding light to determine respective distances of such objects;
wherein the receiving-and-forming means comprise;
a first, optointermediate stage that receives the scattered light and in response forms a corresponding intermediate signal; and
a second, intermedioptical stage that receives the intermediate signal and in response forms the corresponding light.
- said apparatus comprising;
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63. A method for detecting and ranging objects, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving light scattered from the objects;
in response to the scattered light, forming a corresponding light of a different wavelength from the scattered light; and
time-resolving the corresponding light to determine respective distances of such objects;
said time-resolving step defining a time interval, for time-resolution of the corresponding light, of one hundred microseconds'"'"' duration, or within an order of magnitude thereof; and
said receiving-and-forming step being substantially capable of continuous operation throughout said time interval.
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64. A method for detecting and ranging objects, and determining their reflectance, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving light scattered from the objects;
in response to the scattered light, forming a corresponding light of a different wavelength from the scattered light; and
time-resolving the corresponding light to determine respective distances of such objects;
said time-resolving step defining a time interval, for time-resolution of the corresponding light, between twenty-five nanoseconds and one hundred microseconds long; and
said receiving-and-forming step being substantially capable of continuous operation throughout said time interval; and
wherein;
the receiving step preserves at least some gray-level information in the scattered light; and
the forming step also preserves at least some of the gray-level information.
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65. A method for detecting and ranging objects, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving light scattered from the objects;
in response to the scattered light, forming a corresponding light of a different wavelength from the scattered light; and
time-resolving the corresponding light to determine respective distances of such objects;
wherein;
the receiving step receives the scattered light in plural wavelength bands; and
the forming step forms the corresponding light in substantially a single, common wavelength band.
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73. Apparatus for detecting objects and determining their distance and reflectance, to form a two-dimensional or three-dimensional image;
- said apparatus comprising;
a light source; and
means for projecting pulses of light from the source toward such objects for scattering back toward the receiving-and-forming means;
means for receiving light scattered from such objects and in response forming a corresponding light of a different wavelength from the scattered light, preserving gray-level information in said received and corresponding light; and
means, comprising a streak camera, for time-resolving the corresponding light to determine respective distances and reflectances of such objects;
wherein the receiving-and-forming means comprise;
a first, optoelectronic stage, comprising an array of light-sensitive PIN diodes, that receives the scattered light and in response forms a corresponding electronic signal;
a second, electrooptical stage, comprising an array of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers connected to receive the electronic signal from the PIN diodes, that receives the electronic signal and in response forms the corresponding light; and
an electronic circuit array connecting the electronic signal from the first stage to the second stage, and modifying the signal to operate the second stage.
- said apparatus comprising;
Specification