FREEDOM PHOTONICS LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: ABSTRACT: Currently, typical LIDAR (Laser RADAR) systems single-aperture is limited by th

Description

ABSTRACT: Currently, typical LIDAR (Laser RADAR) systems single-aperture is limited by the size and weight of the necessarily large optical aperture. During targeting the camera/imager is quickly extended and then retracted to minimize the time the LO of the aircraft is impacted. In a distributed aperture system, several receiver sub-apertures may be combined to form an effective single larger aperture, with a resolution determined by the size of the effective aperture rather than the sub-apertures. In this work, a highly integrated photonic circuit is proposed to realize a low SWAP distributed aperture system. BENEFIT: This work will significantly reduce the SWAP and allow for sensors that are conformal to an airframe. Coherent receivers have many commercial applications for high bandwidth telecom applications.