Fully integrated four-input combining receiver front-end circuit for laser radar with static unitary detector

A fully integrated four-input combining receiver front-end circuit is designed in a 0.18 μm CMOS technology for laser radar with a static unitary detector (STUD). This circuit consists of four independent transimpedance amplifiers, one signal combiner, a balun and an output buffer in one single integrated chip. The circuit provides 16.2 mW power consumption for a 1.8 V supplied voltage and 59.8 dBΩ transimpedance gain in the implemented experimental prototype for electrical pulse measurement. The fabricated prototype is worked exactly the same as the operation principle of the STUD in the two-dimensional optical pulse scanning measurement. Therefore, the proposed circuit is available for the STUD-based laser detection and ranging (LADAR) system as one integrated chip. This is the first demonstrated IC for the STUD-based laser radar system.