Two-Photon Interference LiDAR Imaging

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum interference inspired LiDAR method that achieves OCT-level depth resolution (~70 micrometers), enabling high-precision 3D imaging without requiring extreme system stability.

Contribution

It presents a novel quantum-inspired approach to LiDAR that significantly improves depth resolution over traditional methods, overcoming coherence limitations.

Findings

Achieved 70 μm effective impulse response in LiDAR imaging.

Demonstrated high-resolution depth imaging capable of resolving multiple reflections.

Enabled potential applications in facial recognition and imaging through obscurants.

Abstract

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a key 3D imaging technology that provides micron scale depth resolution for bio-imaging. This resolution substantially surpasses what it typically achieved in Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) which is often limited to the millimetre scale due to the impulse response of the detection electronics. However, the lack of coherence in LiDAR scenes, arising from mechanical motion for example, make OCT practically infeasible. Here we present a quantum interference inspired approach to LiDAR which achieves OCT depth resolutions without the need for high levels of stability. We demonstrate depth imaging capabilities with an effective impulse response of 70 {\mu}m, thereby allowing ranging and multiple reflections to be discerned with much higher resolution than conventional LiDAR approaches. This enhanced resolution opens up avenues for LiDAR in 3D facial recognition, and small feature detection/tracking as well as enhancing the capabilities of more complex time-of-flight methods such as imaging through obscurants and non-line-of-sight imaging.