Optical Pre-Amplifier Pixel Arrays for Laser Radar Applications

The next generation of autonomously guided munition seekers requires the development of imaging LADAR systems capable of detection through obscurants at greater ranges and with greater precision and speed while reducing system cost, weight, and power consumption. Aerius Photonics has developed an advanced optical pre-amplifier pixel technology to enhance the performance of LADAR receiver systems by optically amplifying return pulses up to 100x prior to signal detection. The new optical pre-amplifier pixel array technology is a complementary technology that can be used to boost the performance of high-sensitivity detector array technologies (APD, PIN) that are presently being developed for imaging LADAR applications. The optical pre-amplifier pixel array technology can simultaneously provide high gain, high fill factors, low noise, and offers the future potential for high-speed detector gating. By inserting the optical pre-amplifier pixel array in the optical system path, before the final detector plane, LADAR return pulse intensities can be increased by over 100 times prior to detection and additional amplification by the high-sensitivity detector array/electronics hybrid. By utilizing these advanced optically pre-amplified pixel arrays it will be possible to greatly enhance the performance of imaging laser radar and laser rangefinder systems operating at eye-safe wavelengths in the near IR.