MSM Photodiode-Based Highly Accurate 3D Laser Impulse Radar

Based on the recently developed modulation scheme of highly dynamic and strong carrier injection into the active zone of a single- heterostructure (SH) laserdiode, laser pulses of some hundreds of watts and pulse widths (FWHM) of about 30 ps are available. Such optical pulses are useful for high precision near-field ranging. Till now suited optical receivers are not available. This paper reports about a broadband optical receiver using an MSM photodiode. Measurement uncertainties in the micrometer range could be attained by range data error correction using a nonlinear equivalent network for the device. The results are demonstrated on the basis of 2D and 3D mapped objects.