An apparatus includes a laser rangefinder, an imaging device aligned to an optical path of the laser rangefinder, a control interface to activate the laser rangefinder and to cause the imaging device to capture an image during an operating cycle of the laser rangefinder, and a display to display an image of an object captured by the imaging device and a corresponding distance to the target determined by the laser rangefinder. The imaging device can capture an image of an intended target, allowing the operator to verify that the ranged distance provided by the laser rangefinder corresponds to the intended target.

A laser safety system adapted to prevent inadvertent illumination of people and assets. The laser safety system configured to emit a laser beam with a laser and determine a path of a target object relative to the laser safety system. The laser safety system configured to cause the laser beam to illuminate the target object while the target object moves along the path.

Embodiments of the disclosure are drawn to apparatuses and methods for a rotating optical reflector. Optical systems may have a limited field of view, and so in order to expand the area that the optical system collects data from, the field of view of the optical system may be scanned across a target area. The present disclosure is directed to a rotating optical reflector, which includes a transmissive layer which refracts light onto a reflective layer, which has a normal which is not parallel to the axis about which the optical reflector is rotated. The optical reflector may be both statically and dynamically balanced, which may allow an increased size of the optical reflector, which in turn may increase the aperture of an optical system (e.g., a lidar system) using the rotating optical reflector.

Techniques for optimizing a scan pattern of a LIDAR system including a bistatic transceiver include receiving first SNR values based on values of a range of the target, where the first SNR values are for a respective scan rate. Techniques further include receiving second SNR values based on values of the range of the target, where the second SNR values are for a respective integration time. Techniques further include receiving a maximum design range of the target at each angle in the angle range. Techniques further include determining, for each angle in the angle range, a maximum scan rate and a minimum integration time. Techniques further include defining a scan pattern of the LIDAR system based on the maximum scan rate and the minimum integration time at each angle and operating the LIDAR system according to the scan pattern.

One example system includes a lens disposed relative to a scene and configured to focus light from the scene. The system also includes an opaque material. The opaque material defines a plurality of apertures including a primary aperture and one or more secondary apertures. The system also includes one or more light detectors (e.g., a single element detector or an array of detectors) configured to intercept and detect diverging light focused by the lens and transmitted through at least one of the plurality of apertures defined by the opaque material.

A Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) sensor is provided. The LIDAR sensor includes an optical transmitter configured to, when operated in a first operation mode, illuminate first sub-regions of a field of view for one-dimensionally scanning the environment in the field of view. When operated in a second operation mode, the optical transmitter is configured to illuminate second sub-regions of the field of view for scanning the environment in a portion of the field of view. A second illumination intensity used for illuminating the second sub-regions is higher than a first illumination intensity used for illuminating the first sub-regions. The LIDAR sensor further includes an optical receiver configured to receive reflections from the first sub-regions and the second sub-regions.

A photo-detecting apparatus is provided. The photo-detecting apparatus includes: a substrate made by a first material or a first material-composite; an absorption layer made by a second material or a second material-composite, the absorption layer being supported by the substrate and the absorption layer including: a first surface; a second surface arranged between the first surface and the substrate; and a channel region having a dopant profile with a peak dopant concentration equal to or more than 1×10.sup.15 cm.sup.−3, wherein a distance between the first surface and a location of the channel region having the peak dopant concentration is less than a distance between the second surface and the location of the channel region having the peak dopant concentration, and wherein the distance between the first surface and the location of the channel region having the peak dopant concentration is not less than 30 nm.

An optical apparatus includes a deflector configured to deflect illumination light from a light source to scan an object, and configured to deflect reflected light from the object, a light guide configured to guide the illumination light form the light source to the deflector, and configured to guide the reflected light from the deflector to a light receiving element, an optical member having a reflective area that makes first light which is part of the illumination light from the deflector incident on the deflector by reflection, and a controller configured to obtain information regarding the deflector on the basis of information of the first light from the reflective area. In a cross-section including the optical path from the reflective area to the light guide, a width of the reflective area is smaller than a width of the illumination light on the reflective area.

A beam generating device includes a semiconductor substrate, having an optical passband. A first array of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) is formed on a first face of the semiconductor substrate and are configured to emit respective laser beams through the substrate at a wavelength within the passband. A second array of microlenses is formed on a second face of the semiconductor substrate in respective alignment with the VCSELs so as to transmit the laser beams generated by the VCSELs. The VCSELs are configured to be driven to emit the laser beams in predefined groups in order to change a characteristic of the laser beams.

Provided is an optical isolator including a semiconductor substrate, an optical attenuator and an optical amplifier aligned with each other on the semiconductor substrate, an input optical waveguide connected to the optical attenuator, and an output optical waveguide connected to the optical amplifier, wherein a gain of the optical amplifier decreases based on an intensity of light incident on the optical amplifier increasing, wherein a first input light incident on the optical attenuator through the input optical waveguide is output as a first output light through the output optical waveguide, and a second input light incident on the optical amplifier through the output optical waveguide is output as a second output light through the input optical waveguide, and wherein when an intensity of the first input light and an intensity of the second input light are equal, an intensity of the first output light is greater than an intensity of the second output light.