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Date Announced: 09 Oct 2024
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) has become a key enabling technology for the modern world, from advanced autonomous car systems to airborne mapping systems it is found in many different industries. These systems all rely on detecting faint light reflections from distant objects, making the detection and amplification of these weak signals without introducing significant noise a critical challenge, and often a limiting factor, to their achievable resolution and performance.
To improve the signal to noise ratio in LIDAR systems, there are 3 main possibilities. The first is increasing the emitted signal, for example with a more powerful laser emitter, or through optical amplification of the emitting source through a fibre amplifier. Alternatively, increasing the detected signal is an option, by using more sensitive detectors. The third is to focus not on the signal, but to reduce the noise in the acquisition chain. Ultimately the noise in the system will be limited by the noisiest component in it, so ensuring that all the components are suitable to achieve the necessary SNR is critical.
Low noise transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs) play an important role in this context. By minimising the noise floor, these amplifiers enable the detection of weaker signals from more distant objects, significantly extending the operational range of LIDAR devices. Lower noise signals also enable the implementation of more advanced data analysis techniques, getting more useful data from the acquired signals. In practical terms, this can mean the difference between an autonomous vehicle detecting a small obstacle on the road or missing it entirely!
LASER COMPONENTS offers a wide selection of both photodetectors, including single photon counters, and transimpedance amplifiers that feature noise levels down to 0.2 fA/√Hz and gain reaching up to 1013 V/A. These components are suitable whenever you need
E-mail: chennessy@lasercomponents.co.uk
Web Site: www.lasercomponents.co.uk
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