Low-cost camera-based pulsed and modulated continuous wave laser detection for laser-based optical communications

Abstract

A novel, low-cost, camera-based method of detecting a single nanosecond (ns) laser pulse and kHz modulated continuous wave and pulsed lasers has been developed. The detector uses a simple optical modification to a standard rolling shutter color camera combined with image processing techniques to distinguish lasers from other illumination sources and extract a laser’s wavelength and pulse repetition frequency. In addition, the detector is also capable of detecting a single ns laser pulse at any given time. Such a detector has applications in free-space optical communications (FSO comms) as a low-cost broadband method of extracting information from multiple sources and as a detector of laser range finders. A low-cost prototype (≈£600) has been developed using entirely off-the-shelf components and assessed in laboratory and field trial conditions, with the ability to measure laser wavelengths to ±5 nm and pulse repetition frequencies to within ±5 % at a distance of 660 m. In the laboratory, the prototype was also able to detect each of the 1000 pulses generated by a 10 Hz 10 ns 532-nm pulsed laser, as well as 100 pulses sent at random intervals, highlighting its capability to detect a ns pulse at any given time. This novel technology offers a low-cost method of detecting lasers and extracting their pulse repetition frequencies, with a wide field of view and high spatial resolution. Ultimately, this technology has applications in FSO comms for between vehicles or platforms of interest, with a capability of communicating with multiple targets simultaneously.