Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T02:43:30.623Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Optical Detection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 February 2023

Gary G. Gimmestad  and
David W. Roberts
Gary G. Gimmestad
Affiliation:
Georgia Institute of Technology
David W. Roberts
Affiliation:
MicroDynamics LLC
Get access

Summary

This chapter begins with a brief review of electronic circuitry and terminology because optical detection and signal processing are in the realm of electrical engineering. A detailed discussion of analog detection follows, with circuitry including transimpedance amplifiers and equivalent circuits for analyzing noise and bandwidth. Two electronic noise sources are introduced, Johnson noise and amplifier noise, and their effects on SNR are modeled. Photon counting is then discussed in terms of its instrumentation, advantages, and limitations. The basic principles of coherent detection are elucidated through a mathematical derivation, and the advantages of coherent detection are shown: high SNR, optical background discrimination, and the measurement of Doppler shifts to sense winds. The main types of detectors used in lidar systems are then discussed, including intrinsic and PIN photodiodes, photomultipliers, avalanche photodiodes, and single-photon avalanche diodes. The advantages of internal detector gain for optimizing SNR are quantified.

Keywords

photomultiplieravalanche photodiodedetector gainJohnson noiseamplifier noiseelectronic bandwidthdirect detectionphoton countingcoherent detectionanalog signal processing
Type
Chapter
Information
Lidar Engineering
Introduction to Basic Principles
 , pp. 204 - 245
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Kingston, R. H., Detection of Optical and Infrared Radiation. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1978.Google Scholar
Johnson, J., “Thermal Agitation of Electricity in Conductors,” Physical Review, vol. 32, p. 97, 1928.Google Scholar
Gimmestad, G. G. and Bauman, S. C. “Autonomous Lidar System for Cloud Climatology,” in Optical Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere: summaries of papers presented at the Optical Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere Topical Meeting, Incline Village, Nevada, 1990, pp. 560–561.Google Scholar
Measures, R. M., Laser Remote Sensing – Fundamentals and Applications. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1984.Google Scholar
Kruse, P. W., McGlauchlin, L. D., and McQuistan, R. B., Elements of Infrared Technology: Generation, Transmission, and Detection. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1963.Google Scholar
Photek photodiode data sheet. [Online]. Available: DS041 Photodiode Datasheet.pdf (photek.com). [Accessed: October 31, 2021].Google Scholar
Zworykin, V. K., Morton, G. A., and Malter, L., “The Secondary Emission Multiplier-A New Electronic Device.” Proceedings of the IRE, vol. 24, p. 351, 1936.Google Scholar
Hamamatsu PMT handbook, 4th ed. [Online]. Available: www.hamamatsu.com/resources/pdf/etd/PMT_handbook_v4E.pdf. [Accessed: October 31, 2021].Google Scholar
Roberts, D. W., Gimmestad, G. G., Garrison, A. K. et al., “Design and Performance of a 100-Inch Lidar Facility,” Optical Engineering, vol. 30, pp. 79–87, 1991.Google Scholar
Sze, S. M. and Ng, K. N., Physics of Semiconductor Devices, 3rd ed., Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2007.Google Scholar
Kingston, R. H., Optical Sources, Detectors, and Systems. San Diego: Academic Press, 1995.Google Scholar
Ismail, S. and Browell, E. V., “Airborne and Spaceborne Lidar Measurements of Water Vapor Profiles: A Sensitivity Analysis,” Applied Optics, vol. 28, 3603–3616, 1989.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×