Using an inexpensive silicon chip less than a millimeter square in size, a nanophotonic coherent imager (NCI), developed by California Institute of Technology researchers, provides 3D maps with high depth-measurement accuracy.
Each pixel in an image created by the Caltech team's NCI provides both the distance and intensity information.
The new chip utilizes an established LIDAR detection and ranging technology, in which a target object is illuminated with scanning laser beams. The light that reflects off of the object is then analyzed based on the wavelength of the laser light used, and the LIDAR gathers information about the object's size and its distance from the laser to create an image of its surroundings.
The incorporation of coherent light not only allows 3-D imaging with high depth-measurement accuracy; it also makes it possible for the device to fit in a very small size.
In the future, according to the researchers, the current array of 16 pixels could also be scaled up to hundreds of thousands. By creating vast arrays of the tiny LIDARs, the imager could be applied to a broad range of applications. Motion sensitivity in superfine human machine interfaces, for example, could be improved so that the slightest movements of a patient's eyes and the most minute changes in a patient's heartbeat can be detected on the fly.
