Light detection and ranging (lidar) is used for various applications such as remote sensing, altimetry and imaging. Continuous wave frequency modulated (CWFM) lidars rely on linearly ramping the optical frequency of a laser and interfering the delayed echo signal with a reference signal to produce a beat frequency. The range resolution of lidar is determined by the swept frequency range of the linearly chirped continuous light waves in a frequency modulation system. For example, for 1mm range resolution, it needs the frequency sweep range of more than 150 GHz. In this paper a system which can generate a linearly chirped optical waveform within a super broad-wide band of 200 GHz, using cascaded phase modulators (PM) and single side band (SSB) modulator, is designed as a light source in a high resolution lidar system.

Date Published: 28 April 2015
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 9362, Terahertz, RF, Millimeter, and Submillimeter-Wave Technology and Applications VIII, 93620J (28 April 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2078205

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9362:
Terahertz, RF, Millimeter, and Submillimeter-Wave Technology and Applications VIII
Laurence P. Sadwick; Tianxin Yang, Editor(s)