Development and analysis of high range precision and spatial resolution flash LIDAR system using a polarization modulating Pockels cell and a micro-polarizer CCD camera

Abstract

Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) is commonly used to measure distance between a target and a system and is well suited for various applications. To successfully complete various missions, both high spatial resolution and range precision are needed, and the system also often needs to obtain high resolution 3D images in a relatively short period of time. In this thesis, a high range precision 3D imaging LIDAR system using a Pockels cell and a quadrant photodiode (QPD) was developed and demonstrated. Furthermore, we developed and demonstrated a novel flash LIDAR which can produce high spatial resolution 3D images with high range precision. The proposed flash LIDAR system is implemented by a polarization modulating Pockels cell and a micro-polarizer CCD camera. In the proposed system, higher range precision is obtained as compared with a conventional system with the same number of measurements. A high bandwidth APD and a high resolution TDC are not required for high range precision since this system only measures the energy of the laser pulse. Moreover, the large number of pixels in the CCD camera can provide high resolution 3D images.