Open AccessSingle photon range, intensity and photon flux imaging with kilohertz frame rate and high dynamic range
Author(s) -
Martin Laurenzis
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.038391
Subject(s) - photon counting , optics , detector , photon , physics , avalanche diode , ranging , dynamic range , diffuse optical imaging , frame rate , avalanche photodiode , temporal resolution , tomography , telecommunications , breakdown voltage , quantum mechanics , voltage , computer science
Optical sensing with single photon counting avalanche diode detectors has become a versatile approach for ranging and low light level imaging. In this paper, we compare time correlated and uncorrelated imaging of single photon events using an InGaAs single-photon-counting-avalanche-photo-diode (SPAD) sensor with a 32 × 32 focal plane array detector. We compare ranging, imaging and photon flux measurement capabilities at shortwave infrared wavelengths and determine the minimum number of photon event measurements to perform reliable scene reconstruction. With time-correlated-single-photon-counting (TCSPC), we obtained range images with centimeter resolution and determined the relative intensity. Using uncorrelated single photon counting (USPC), we demonstrated photon flux estimation with a high dynamic range from ϕ ^=2×10 4 to 1.3 × 10 7 counts per second. Finally, we demonstrate imaging, ranging and photon flux measurements of a moving target from a few samples with a frame rate of 50 kHz.