Compact multichannel receiver using InGaAs APDs for single-pulse eye-safe laser radar imagery

Active imaging laser radars form 3D images which can be processed to provide target identification and precision aimpoint definition in real time. Earlier raster-scanned and pushbroom-scanned 3D imaging laser radar receivers required multiple laser pulses to assemble a complete 3D image frame. Platform/target motion and atmospheric effects caused tearing and jitter in the assembled 3D images, which complicated the subsequent image processing and necessitated the use of stabilized scanning systems. This paper describes the current status of the parallel/multichannel imaging laser radar receiver (PMR) which is being developed under an SBIR Phaser II program by the USAF Wright Laboratories Armament Directorate. The PMR uses an array of multichannel laser radar receivers to form single-pulse, 3D laser radar images, thus eliminating the complex and costly scanning system, and enabling much higher frame rates than were ever before possible. The heart of the PMR is the multichannel optical receiver photonic hybrid (MORPH), a high performance 16-channel laser radar receiver module which uses an array of InGaAs avalanche photodiodes for eyesafe operation. The MORPH provides high downrange resolution, multihit range data for each detector on a compact circuit card. Optical flux is transferred from the receiver focal plane to each MORPH via a fiber optic ribbon cable. An array of MORPHs are plugged into a compact passive backplane, along with a single digital control card (DCC). The DCC, which is the same form factor as the MORPH, synchronizes the MORPHs and transfers the digital range information to the host processor over a standard parallel data interface cable. The system described here illustrates one approach to integrating and packaging high-density photonic arrays and their associated signal processing electronics to yield a compact, low power, scannerless, high performance imaging laser radar receiver, using existing technology.