Recently Spectrolab has successfully demonstrated a compact 32x32 Laser Detection and Range (LADAR)
camera with single photo-level sensitivity with small size, weight, and power (SWAP) budget for threedimensional
(3D) topographic imaging at 1064 nm on various platforms. With 20-kHz frame rate and 500-
ps timing uncertainty, this LADAR system provides coverage down to inch-level fidelity and allows for
effective wide-area terrain mapping. At a 10 mph forward speed and 1000 feet above ground level (AGL),
it covers 0.5 square-mile per hour with a resolution of 25 in2/pixel after data averaging. In order to increase
the forward speed to fit for more platforms and survey a large area more effectively, Spectrolab is
developing 32x128 Geiger-mode LADAR camera with 43 frame rate. With the increase in both frame rate
and array size, the data collection rate is improved by 10 times. With a programmable bin size from 0.3 ps
to 0.5 ns and 14-bit timing dynamic range, LADAR developers will have more freedom in system
integration for various applications. Most of the special features of Spectrolab 32x32 LADAR camera, such
as non-uniform bias correction, variable range gate width, windowing for smaller arrays, and short pixel
protection, are implemented in this camera.
Three-dimensional (3D) imaging with Short wavelength infrared (SWIR) Laser Detection and Range (LADAR) systems have been successfully demonstrated on various platforms. It has been quickly adopted in many military and civilian applications. In order to minimize the LADAR system size, weight, and power (SWAP), it is highly desirable to maximize the camera sensitivity. Recently Spectrolab has demonstrated a compact 32x32 LADAR camera with single photo-level sensitivity at 1064. This camera has many special features such as non-uniform bias correction, variable range gate width from 2 microseconds to 6 microseconds, windowing for smaller arrays, and short pixel protection. Boeing
integrated this camera with a 1.06 μm pulse laser on various platforms and demonstrated 3D imaging. The
features and recent test results of the 32x128 camera under development will be introduced.
Ping Yuan, Rengarajan Sudharsanan, Xiaogang Bai, Paul McDonald, Eduardo Labios, Bryan Morris, John Nicholson, Gary Stuart, Harrison Danny, Stephen Van Duyne, Greg Pauls, Stephen Gaalema
Three-dimensional (3D) topographic imaging using Short wavelength infrared (SWIR) Laser Detection and
Range (LADAR) systems have been successfully demonstrated on various platforms. LADAR imaging
provides coverage down to inch-level fidelity and allows for effective wide-area terrain mapping. Recently
Spectrolab has demonstrated a compact 32×32 LADAR camera with single photon-level sensitivity with
small size, weight, and power (SWAP) budget. This camera has many special features such as non-uniform
bias correction, variable range gate width from 2 microseconds to 6 microseconds, windowing for smaller
arrays, and shorted pixel protection. Boeing integrated this camera with a 1.06 μm pulse laser on various
platforms and had demonstrated 3D imaging. In this presentation, the operation details of this camera and
3D imaging demonstration using this camera on various platforms will be presented.
Ping Yuan, Rengarajan Sudharsanan, Xiaogang Bai, Joseph Boisvert, Paul McDonald, Eduardo Labios, Bryan Morris, John Nicholson, Gary Stuart, Harrison Danny, Stephen Van Duyne, Greg Pauls, Stephen Gaalema
The performance of Geiger-mode LAser Detection and Ranging (LADAR) cameras is primarily defined by individual
pixel attributes, such as dark count rate (DCR), photon detection efficiency (PDE), jitter, and crosstalk. However, for the
expanding LADAR imaging applications, other factors, such as image uniformity, component tolerance,
manufacturability, reliability, and operational features, have to be considered. Recently we have developed new 32×32
and 32×128 Read-Out Integrated Circuits (ROIC) for LADAR applications. With multiple filter and absorber structures,
the 50-μm-pitch arrays demonstrate pixel crosstalk less than 100 ppm level, while maintaining a PDE greater than 40%
at 4 V overbias. Besides the improved epitaxial and process uniformity of the APD arrays, the new ROICs implement a
Non-uniform Bias (NUB) circuit providing 4-bit bias voltage tunability over a 2.5 V range to individually bias each
pixel. All these features greatly increase the performance uniformity of the LADAR camera. Cameras based on these
ROICs were integrated with a data acquisition system developed by Boeing DES. The 32×32 version has a range gate of
up to 7 μs and can cover a range window of about 1 km with 14-bit and 0.5 ns timing resolution. The 32×128 camera can
be operated at a frame rate of up to 20 kHz with 0.3 ns and 14-bit time resolution through a full CameraLink. The
performance of the 32×32 LADAR camera has been demonstrated in a series of field tests on various vehicles.
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