ENHANCED POLARIZED LIGHT COLLECTION IN COAXIAL LIDAR ARCHITECTURE

• Main Authors: Guo, Yonghong, Wang, Youmin, Lu, Yue
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 11.11.2021
• Subjects: ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS, THE OPTICAL OPERATION OF WHICH ISMODIFIED BY CHANGING THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIUM OF THEDEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF THE INTENSITY,COLOUR, PHASE, POLARISATION OR DIRECTION OF LIGHT, e.g.SWITCHING, GATING, MODULATING OR DEMODULATING; FREQUENCY-CHANGING; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION ORRERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; MEASURING; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS; OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS, OR APPARATUS; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICS; PHYSICS; RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; TECHNIQUES OR PROCEDURES FOR THE OPERATION THEREOF; TESTING

Disclosed herein are techniques for improving the light collection efficiency in coaxial LiDAR systems. A coaxial LiDAR system includes a photodetector, a first polarization beam splitter configured to receive a returned light beam including a first linear polarization component and a second linear polarization component and direct the different linear polarization components to different respective directions, a polarization beam combiner configured to transmit the first linear polarization component from the first polarization beam splitter to the photodetector, a non-reciprocal polarization rotator configured to transmit the second linear polarization component from the first polarization beam splitter, and a second polarization beam splitter configured to reflect the second linear polarization component from the non-reciprocal polarization rotator towards the polarization beam combiner. The polarization beam combiner is further configured to reflect the second linear polarization component from the second polarization beam splitter to the photodetector.