Modular and versatile characterization test bench for optical phased arrays

Hue, Jean; Moulin, Vincent; Abdoul-Carime, Kim; Ait-Mani, N.; Boutafa, Laura; Castany, Olivier; Delplanque, Baptiste; Faugier-Tovar, Jonathan; Fowler, Daivid; Guerber, Sylvain; Lasfargues, Gilles; Meilhan, Jean–Baptiste; Mendizabal, L.; Mourier, Thierry; Miloud-Ali, Nadia; Sermet, Frederic; Stanchina, S.; Szelag, Bertrand; Virot, L.; Simoens, F.

doi:10.1117/12.2607724

Cited by 3 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Our first action is to determine T1/2. In using (1) 6c). This theoretically leads to a frequency sampling of 1/(2Twindow) = 5 kHz (6.1 kHz experimentally).…”

Section: Hardwarementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The OPA silicon component chip contains two OPAs, which are similar to the Tx OPA described in [1] and [6]. One OPA is used in emission (Tx) and the second one in reception (Rx).…”

Section: Opa Component 41 Generalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For a functional LiDAR system, S corresponds to the back scattered light of the target, which is intercepted by Rx. The paper [1] describes how the beam forming is obtained for Tx. Since the achievements presented in [1], a motorized linear stage has been added on our modular test bench to move the OPA component from the beam forming set up to a location to test the OPAs in use, and to accurately position Tx OPA or Rx OPA in front of the beam forming setup.…”

Section: Opa Component 41 Generalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our current motivation is to highlight the validation of the CEA's FMCW LiDAR architecture by combining these components on an upgradable optical test platform. An initial version of this platform has already been described in [1], where only the Tx OPA component was installed and used.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each component has been individually tested, but also evaluated in order to derive the system performance of a complete LiDAR. A test platform has been developed to calibrate an OPA fabricated at CEA platform, either in emission or in reception mode [1]. The tested OPA includes 256 channels based on grating antennae, with 1.5 m pitch and 256 thermo-optic phase shifters.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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An upgradable testing platform designed to characterize and test optical components of FMCW LiDARs, particularly optical phased arrays

Hue¹,

Moulin²,

Abdoul-Carime³

et al. 2023

Photonic Instrumentation Engineering X

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CEA aims at developing a compact 1550 nm Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) LiDAR on chip. In this paper, individual demonstrators, corresponding to three main components of a LiDAR (Light Distance And Ranging) system, are combined in a test bench: a FMCW laser source, an emission and reception Optical Phased Array (OPA) and an optical heterodyne detection module. Each component has been individually tested, but also evaluated in order to derive the system performance of a complete LiDAR. A test platform has been developed to calibrate an OPA fabricated at CEA platform, either in emission or in reception mode [1]. The tested OPA includes 256 channels based on grating antennae, with 1.5 m pitch and 256 thermo-optic phase shifters. More recently, this platform has been completed with a FMCW interferometer, where the FMCW LiDAR detection can be evaluated through a mixed propagation setup, composed of optical fibers and free space. Then, the OPA may be inserted into this setup. Therefore, the optical fiber FMCW interferometer has been optimized to detect the lowest signal (typically less than one hundred fW) and to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio (up to almost 30 dB) with low noise photodiodes. Performance has been compared to theoretical predictions. Then, our custom OPA is included inside this experimental setup in a free space propagation environment. The performance measurements extracted from the spectral analysis are in agreement with the expectations.

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“…Our first action is to determine T1/2. In using (1) 6c). This theoretically leads to a frequency sampling of 1/(2Twindow) = 5 kHz (6.1 kHz experimentally).…”

Section: Hardwarementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The OPA silicon component chip contains two OPAs, which are similar to the Tx OPA described in [1] and [6]. One OPA is used in emission (Tx) and the second one in reception (Rx).…”

Section: Opa Component 41 Generalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Opa Component 41 Generalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

An upgradable testing platform designed to characterize and test optical components of FMCW LiDARs, particularly optical phased arrays

Hue¹,

Moulin²,

Abdoul-Carime³

et al. 2023

Photonic Instrumentation Engineering X

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

FMCW chip-scale LiDARs for safer and smarter mobility of people and goods

Simoens

Barrera²,

Colard³

et al. 2023

Smart Photonic and Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits 2023

Self Cite

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LiDAR sensors are key to ensure safety and efficiency of autonomous vehicles and mobile robotic systems. But current commercial LiDAR technologies cannot face the issues in terms of costs, reliability and form factors that are hindering widespread adoption. Steerlight, a CEA-Leti spin-off, develops a new generation of on-chip LiDARs that relies on Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) and Silicon Photonics. FMCW provides instantaneous depth and velocity acquisition while Silicon Photonics enables the integration of the optical and electronics functionalities on a single chip. This paper will first describe the proposed silicon photonics based architecture. Subsequently, various demonstrations will illustrate the roadmap towards miniature and scalable LiDARs. Such features will contribute to making a wide range of devices smarter and safer, beyond the automotive and robotics markets.

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Heterodyne detection for optical FMCW LiDAR: tests, analysis, and experimental comparisons between photodetectors and configurations

Hue,

Moulin,

Oxaran

et al. 2024

Photonic Instrumentation Engineering XI

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This paper presents experimental studies on heterodyne Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) signal reception for different optical heterodyne configurations including internal and external mixing between an incoming signal and a local oscillator. Signals and potential noise sources from a fibered FMCW Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (FMCW MZI) are theoretically evaluated. These optical estimations (signal and noise) of various power spectral densities (PSD) are converted into electrical unities to be compared to the measurements.The PSD are validated by using a known alternating voltage with controlled frequency and amplitude. This validation is used to compare the experimental and theoretical detection limits of different FMCW photodetectors, including a Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) detector developed and produced at CEA. The detection limit achieved with this PIC module closely matches with the expected theoretical performances. It validates the optical and electronic architecture and the achievements of CEA's design. The miniaturization of this operational detection module is underway. In the future, it will be located on a single chip alongside two Optical Phased Arrays (OPA), one for emission and the other for reception.

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Modular and versatile characterization test bench for optical phased arrays

Cited by 3 publications

References 10 publications

An upgradable testing platform designed to characterize and test optical components of FMCW LiDARs, particularly optical phased arrays

An upgradable testing platform designed to characterize and test optical components of FMCW LiDARs, particularly optical phased arrays

FMCW chip-scale LiDARs for safer and smarter mobility of people and goods

Heterodyne detection for optical FMCW LiDAR: tests, analysis, and experimental comparisons between photodetectors and configurations

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