Optical Aperture Gating for Single-pixel and Imaging LIDAR Systems

Fast gating or shuttering of light through a large aperture is possible with a HOE (holographic optical element) written into new novel materials such as, but not limited to, EO polymers. These materials can be non-birefringent thin or thick films applied to an optical substrate of a square centimeter or larger. The refractive index of EO polymers can be switched fast (10 to 100 nanoseconds) by applying an electric field across the film. Based on our Phase I results and successful tests, we plan to build an optimised collimator that will function as follows: collected input light would first pass through the beam-shaping collimating HOE and then be gated with the EO polymer HOE. This would simultaneously meet FOV requirements and gating requirements.