1.79-GHz acquisition rate absolute distance measurement with lithium niobate electro-optic comb
Abstract AI-empowered autonomous vehicles must sense the fast-changing three-dimensional environments with high speed and precision. However, the tradeoff between acquisition rate and non-ambiguity range prevents most LiDARs from achieving high-speed absolute distance measurement. Here we demonstrat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58018-8 |
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| _version_ | 1849392122520666112 |
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| author | Yifan Qi Xingyu Jia Jingyi Wang Weiwei Yang Yihan Miao Xinlun Cai Guanhao Wu Yang Li |
| author_facet | Yifan Qi Xingyu Jia Jingyi Wang Weiwei Yang Yihan Miao Xinlun Cai Guanhao Wu Yang Li |
| author_sort | Yifan Qi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract AI-empowered autonomous vehicles must sense the fast-changing three-dimensional environments with high speed and precision. However, the tradeoff between acquisition rate and non-ambiguity range prevents most LiDARs from achieving high-speed absolute distance measurement. Here we demonstrate a lithium niobate electro-optic comb-enabled ultrafast absolute distance measurement method — repetition rate-modulated frequency comb (RRMFC). We achieved an integrated lithium-niobate phase modulator with a half-wave voltage of 1.47 V, leading to over 50 sidebands and a repetition rate can be tuned over 12 GHz in 4 μs. Leveraging these unique features, RRMFC can coherently measure the distance by detecting interference peaks in the time domain, leading to acquisition rates up to 1.79 GHz and a large non-ambiguity range. This single-channel acquisition rate is over 4 orders of magnitude higher than the state-of-the-art absolute distance measurement system. Thus, RRMFC-based LiDAR allows autonomous vehicles to sense the fine details of a fast-changing environment using a single laser. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bb740a35f79c4e20a1ddbbbe5a5f768d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-bb740a35f79c4e20a1ddbbbe5a5f768d2025-08-20T03:40:50ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-03-011611910.1038/s41467-025-58018-81.79-GHz acquisition rate absolute distance measurement with lithium niobate electro-optic combYifan Qi0Xingyu Jia1Jingyi Wang2Weiwei Yang3Yihan Miao4Xinlun Cai5Guanhao Wu6Yang Li7State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua UniversityState Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua UniversityState Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Electronics and Information Technology, Sun Yat-sen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua UniversityState Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua UniversityState Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Electronics and Information Technology, Sun Yat-sen UniversityState Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua UniversityState Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua UniversityAbstract AI-empowered autonomous vehicles must sense the fast-changing three-dimensional environments with high speed and precision. However, the tradeoff between acquisition rate and non-ambiguity range prevents most LiDARs from achieving high-speed absolute distance measurement. Here we demonstrate a lithium niobate electro-optic comb-enabled ultrafast absolute distance measurement method — repetition rate-modulated frequency comb (RRMFC). We achieved an integrated lithium-niobate phase modulator with a half-wave voltage of 1.47 V, leading to over 50 sidebands and a repetition rate can be tuned over 12 GHz in 4 μs. Leveraging these unique features, RRMFC can coherently measure the distance by detecting interference peaks in the time domain, leading to acquisition rates up to 1.79 GHz and a large non-ambiguity range. This single-channel acquisition rate is over 4 orders of magnitude higher than the state-of-the-art absolute distance measurement system. Thus, RRMFC-based LiDAR allows autonomous vehicles to sense the fine details of a fast-changing environment using a single laser.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58018-8 |
| spellingShingle | Yifan Qi Xingyu Jia Jingyi Wang Weiwei Yang Yihan Miao Xinlun Cai Guanhao Wu Yang Li 1.79-GHz acquisition rate absolute distance measurement with lithium niobate electro-optic comb Nature Communications |
| title | 1.79-GHz acquisition rate absolute distance measurement with lithium niobate electro-optic comb |
| title_full | 1.79-GHz acquisition rate absolute distance measurement with lithium niobate electro-optic comb |
| title_fullStr | 1.79-GHz acquisition rate absolute distance measurement with lithium niobate electro-optic comb |
| title_full_unstemmed | 1.79-GHz acquisition rate absolute distance measurement with lithium niobate electro-optic comb |
| title_short | 1.79-GHz acquisition rate absolute distance measurement with lithium niobate electro-optic comb |
| title_sort | 1 79 ghz acquisition rate absolute distance measurement with lithium niobate electro optic comb |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58018-8 |
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