Abstract
A light detection and ranging (lidar) system with ±90° of steering based on an adaptive electrowetting-based prism for nonmechanical beam steering has been demonstrated. Electrowetting-based prisms provide a transmissive, low power, and compact alternative to conventional adaptive optics as a nonmechanical beam scanner. The electrowetting prism has a steering range of ±7.8°. We demonstrate a method to amplify the scan angle to ±90° and perform a one-dimensional scan in a lidar system.
Highlights
Light detection and ranging is a well-established remote sensing technique to measure the range of an object, using pulsed or continuous-wave lasers [1,2,3,4,5]
The given input voltage translates into an EWOD prism scan of ±7.8◦, which is magnified to ±90◦ with the transmitter design
We have designed and constructed a benchtop lidar transmitter and receiver based on a twoelectrode EWOD prism
Summary
Light detection and ranging (lidar) is a well-established remote sensing technique to measure the range of an object, using pulsed or continuous-wave lasers [1,2,3,4,5]. A continuous wave laser is amplitude (or frequency) modulated and the phase difference (or the beat frequency note) between the transmitted and return signals is used to evaluate the distance to an object. Both coherent and incoherent lidar systems are often implemented with beam scanning to enable wide coverage of an area. Lidar systems with a laser scanner can accurately generate three-dimensional (3D) measurements, beneficial to many applications. The speed of the scanners implemented in lidar systems range from 5–15 Hz for autonomous cars to 100–1000 Hz for airborne lidar applications. Lidar systems can employ mechanical or nonmechanical beam steering. Nonmechanical beam scanners are attractive, as they are generally low weight, compact, low power, and are often inexpensive
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