Large-FoV 3D imaging of single-photon LiDAR at up to 12 km

Abstract

Single-photon light detection and ranging (LiDAR) has emerged as a valuable technology for active imaging applications. The growing demand for wider applications has driven advancements in measurement range, imaging resolution, and field of view (FoV). Here, we present a high-resolution, large-FoV single-photon LiDAR system capable of panoramic imaging. The system employs continuous raster scanning with a single-photon detector array to achieve rapid measurements, while timing-based pixel segmentation ensures precise data organization. A histogram-folding-based data compression and reconstruction method was developed, resulting in a two-order-of-magnitude increase in processing speed during simulations while maintaining high image reconstruction quality. The experimental results demonstrated the system’s capacity for rapid, high-resolution, and large-FoV imaging, achieving a resolution of 7.2′′ across a 1.6∘×2.1∘ FoV (1052 × 803 pixels) for buildings up to 12 km, all captured and processed in just 10 min. This approach has great potential for use in environmental mapping and related fields.