Narrow linewidth semiconductor DFB laser with linear frequency modulation for FMCW LiDAR

S. Ayotte; K. Bédard; M. Morin; S. Boudreau; A. Desbiens; P. Chrétien; A. Babin; F. Costin; É. Girard-Deschênes; G. Paré-Olivier; L.-P. Perron; M. Wichmann; R. Korn; E. Baumgart; O. Kern; N. Caspers

doi:10.1117/12.2578594

5 March 2021 Narrow linewidth semiconductor DFB laser with linear frequency modulation for FMCW LiDAR

S. Ayotte, K. Bédard, M. Morin, S. Boudreau, A. Desbiens, P. Chrétien, A. Babin, F. Costin, É. Girard-Deschênes, G. Paré-Olivier, L.-P. Perron, M. Wichmann, R. Korn, E. Baumgart, O. Kern, N. Caspers

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 11693, Photonic Instrumentation Engineering VIII; 116930F (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2578594
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2021, Online Only

Abstract

Monolithic distributed feedback semiconductor lasers (1550 nm) for FMCW LiDAR applications have been designed, fabricated and tested. The strong optical frequency modulation distortion observed when a standard DFB laser is modulated with a triangular current waveform is significantly mitigated in our laser. A 100 kHz frequency modulation with amplitude of 0.9 GHz and nonlinear distortion of 0.3%, calculated as the standard deviation of the optical frequency after removal of a linear fit, was measured through an unbalanced fiber interferometer. This was achieved without electronic pre-distortion of the triangular waveform. The 60 kHz intrinsic linewidth of the laser was unaffected by the modulation. Two lasers were co-packaged in a 2.6 cm³ multi-layer ceramic package and coupled to fiber pigtails with micro-lenses. The pins of the ceramic package were soldered to a printed circuit board containing the current sources driving the lasers. This optical source was used in a two-channel LiDAR demonstrator built from off-the-shelf fiber optic components and a twodimensional gimbal scanning mirror. This demonstrator enabled detecting a target with 10 % Lambertian reflectivity up to a distance of >120 m and recording point clouds of different scenes. This shows that FMCW LiDAR in combination with highly coherent and linear DFB laser sources is a very promising technology for long range sensing. A version under development will include a silicon photonics chip for further integration and functionality including I/Q detection.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

S. Ayotte, K. Bédard, M. Morin, S. Boudreau, A. Desbiens, P. Chrétien, A. Babin, F. Costin, É. Girard-Deschênes, G. Paré-Olivier, L.-P. Perron, M. Wichmann, R. Korn, E. Baumgart, O. Kern, and N. Caspers "Narrow linewidth semiconductor DFB laser with linear frequency modulation for FMCW LiDAR", Proc. SPIE 11693, Photonic Instrumentation Engineering VIII, 116930F (5 March 2021); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2578594

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available