Development status and trends of single-photon LiDAR technology

Zhao Yuyang; Zhou Pengfei; Xie Tianpeng; Jiang Chenghao; Jiang Yan; Zhao Zhengwei; Zhu Jingguo

doi:10.12086/oee.2024.240037

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Zhao Y Y, Zhou P F, Xie T P, et al. Development status and trends of single-photon LiDAR technology[J]. Opto-Electron Eng, 2024, 51(3): 240037. doi: 10.12086/oee.2024.240037

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Zhao Y Y, Zhou P F, Xie T P, et al. Development status and trends of single-photon LiDAR technology[J]. Opto-Electron Eng, 2024, 51(3): 240037. doi: 10.12086/oee.2024.240037

Development status and trends of single-photon LiDAR technology

1.
Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100029, China
2.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

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Corresponding author: zhujingguo@ime.ac.cn

Received Date 07 February 2024

Revised Date 27 March 2024

Accepted Date 27 March 2024

Published Date 05 April 2024

Abstract

Abstract

With the rapid development of single-photon detectors and technologies, single-photon LiDAR with photon-level sensitivity has become a popular research topic. It plays an increasingly important role in fields such as remote sensing and mapping, intelligent driving, and consumer electronics. This paper focuses on LiDAR technologies and systems employing single-photon avalanche diode detectors, introducing three single-photon LiDAR detection principles: pulse accumulation, coding modulation and chirp modulation. Considering the importance of detectors and algorithms, it outlines the current development status of single-photon detectors and typical processing algorithms. It also reviews the applications and typical systems of single-photon LiDAR in long-distance detection, complex scene sensing, satellite/airborne remote sensing and mapping, intelligent driving navigation and obstacle avoidance, and 3D sensing in consumer electronics. Lastly, the paper analyzes the future development trends and forecasts the potential challenges of single-photon LiDAR technology in detectors, algorithms, systems, and application domains.
- light detection and ranging /
- signal processing /
- photon counting /
- single-photon avalanche diode

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References

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Overview

Overview

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is an active remote sensing technology that can accurately and quickly acquire the three-dimensional spatial information of objects. Compared with traditional linear-mode LiDAR, single-photon LiDAR, especially those based on Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPAD), represents an emerging technology with high temporal resolution, high sensitivity, and ease of integration. Due to its unique technological advantages in capturing weak signals and high-precision 3D imaging, it is widely applied in military, aerospace, and autonomous driving fields. In recent years, the continuous development of SPAD detectors has driven the vigorous development and rapid performance improvement of various single-photon LiDAR systems. Furthermore, the single-photon imaging algorithm has evolved from single-point signal processing to array image reconstruction. By exploring the spatiotemporal correlation between pixels, it can accurately restore the depth information carried by weak signals from high background noise. The introduction of deep-learning-based approaches with single-photon imaging prior knowledge has also become one of the current research hotspots. Meanwhile, thanks to powerful imaging algorithms, advanced optomechanical structures, and efficient system designs, they have significantly improved detection accuracy and speed and promoted the application scope of single-photon imaging systems from traditional satellite and airborne applications to vehicle-mounted and consumer electronics fields.

This article focuses on LiDAR technology based on SPAD. Starting from the basic principles, it introduces single-photon LiDAR technology and three typical technical systems, including pulse accumulation time-of-flight technology, coded modulation time-of-flight technology, and chirp modulation coherent detection technology. Based on this, the article highlights SPAD detectors, illustrates the research progress of Si SPAD and InGaAs/InP SPAD, and discusses classical imaging algorithms and typical prior assumptions. Moreover, this review looks back on the current development of single-photon LiDAR in long-distance detection, complex scene sensing, satellite/airborne mapping remote sensing, intelligent driving navigation and obstacle avoidance, and consumer electronics 3D perception, organizing typical systems in different application fields and platforms. Finally, based on current research hotspots and pain points, this article summarizes the main development trends of single-photon detection technology in detectors, imaging algorithms, system integration, and application fields. Of course, single-photon LiDAR also faces challenges such as distance ambiguity and pile-up effects. Therefore, in the design of single-photon LiDAR systems, adopting the concept of computational imaging based on application needs and jointly optimizing the system architecture, optical transmission and reception system, and 3D imaging algorithms might be a beneficial approach. It is hoped that this paper can provide some references for readers to understand the development and design of single-photon LiDAR systems.