A silicon photonic chip-based LiDAR, comprising a silicon photonic chip (2), a laser module, a beam collimator module (4), and a signal processing module (6), where the laser outputs a frequency modulated continuous laser and transmits the frequency modulated continuous laser to the silicon photonic chip (2), where the laser is split and transmitted in the silicon photonic chip (2) to form a reference interference light and a local oscillation light on the one hand, and the split laser is transmitted to the target (5) via the beam collimator module (4), and then the reflect light of the reference interference light is received to interfere with the local oscillation light to form a measurement interference light on the other hand; and the reference interference light and the measurement interference light are photoelectrically detected in the silicon photonic chip (2) and form an electrical signal being output to the signal processing module (6) to obtain the distance and speed of the target. The silicon photonic chip (2) integrates most of fiber transmission optical paths, coupling devices, and an optical detector, making the LiDAR system highly integrated and miniaturized. Therefore, a silicon photonic chip based LiDAR is characterized by high integration, small size, light weight, simple manufacture, and superior system stability and reliability.

The present invention relates to a laser positioning apparatus and a laser positioning method, the laser positioning apparatus comprises a laser emitting module configured to generate a first laser; a laser direction adjusting module configured to adjust the first laser to a second laser in a first direction and a third laser in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; a distance determining module configured to receive the laser reflected or diffused back by the second laser on a surface of a first object to be measured to determine a distance from the laser positioning apparatus to the first object to be measured, and/or receive the laser reflected or diffused back by the third laser on a surface of a second object to be measured to determine a distance from the laser positioning apparatus to the second object to be measured.

A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) apparatus is provided that includes a laser source configured to emit a laser beam in a first direction. The apparatus also includes lensing optics configured to pass a first portion of the laser beam in the first direction toward a target, return a second portion of the laser beam into a return path as a local oscillator signal, and return a target signal into the return path. The apparatus also includes a quarter-wave plate configured to polarize the laser beam headed in the first direction and polarize the target signal returned through the lensing optics. The apparatus also includes a polarization beam splitter configured to pass non-polarized light through the beam splitter in the first direction and reflect polarized light in a second direction different than the first direction, wherein the polarization beam splitter is further configured to enable interference between the local oscillator signal and the target signal to generate a mixed signal. The apparatus also includes an optical detector configured to receive the mixed signal.

A lidar system for scanning a field of regard is described having first and second light beams and first and second detectors. The light beams pass through a lateral beam shifting device prior to being directed to a beam scanner. The lateral beam shifting device reduces the overall size of the emitted and returned light beams thus reducing the size of scanner components. Lateral beam shifting devices may be a single rhomboid prism, a pair of rhomboid prisms, a pair of mirrors, or a single mirror or prism.

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.

A LIDAR system includes a LIDAR chip configured to output a LIDAR output signal. The LIDAR chip includes a redirection component and alternate waveguides. The redirection component receives an outgoing LIDAR signal from any one of multiple alternate waveguides. The LIDAR output signal includes light from the outgoing LIDAR signal. A direction that the LIDAR output signal travels away from the LIDAR chip is a function of the alternate waveguide from which the redirection component receives the outgoing LIDAR signal.

A surveying instrument including an optical axis deflector which integrally deflects a distance measuring optical axis and a light receiving optical axis, a narrow-angle image pickup module having an optical axis a part of which is common to the distance measuring optical axis, a distance measurement calculation module and an arithmetic control module, in which the wavelength dispersion compensation prisms which is constituted of a plurality of optical members having the different wavelength characteristics are provided in the part of which is common to the distance measuring optical axis and the narrow-angle image pickup optical axis, the arithmetic control module performs the distance measurement of a measuring point based on a signal of the distance measuring light and a signal of the reflected distance measuring light, and acquires a narrow-angle image in which the dispersion has been compensated by the wavelength dispersion compensation prisms.

Disclosed is a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)-integrated lamp device configured for a vehicle. In the included LiDAR-integrated lamp device, the position at which a head lamp is applied and the position at which a LiDAR is applied are identical and then, a reduction in layout is achieved. Furthermore, through sharing of constituent elements, the number of constituent elements is reduced and then, manufacturing costs are reduced.

A laser radar system according to the present invention includes: a light source to output light having a first frequency in a first period and light having a second frequency in a second period; an optical splitter to split the lights, outputted from the light source, into signal light and local oscillator light; an optical modulator to modulate the signal light into pulsed light; an optical antenna to output the pulsed light into space and to receive, as reception light, the scattered light from a target; an optical heterodyne receiver to perform heterodyne detection on the reception light by using the local oscillator light; and a measurement unit to measure the distance to the target or the movement characteristics of the target by using the reception signal detected by the optical heterodyne receiver, wherein the optical heterodyne receiver performs the heterodyne detection on the first frequency of the reception light by using the second frequency of the local oscillator light. With this configuration, a large amount of frequency shift can be provided between the signal light and the local oscillator light, and thus, the distance to the target can be measured with high resolution by using short pulsed-light.