This paper has summarized experimental results that demonstrate coherent or heterodyne detection using an array of single-photon-counting detectors, and outlines the CNR relation for such a system. This technique enables multi-function laser radars capable of angle-angle-range and angularly-resolved Doppler measurements using the same detector focal plane. While the proof-of-principle results presented here most specifically simulate specular returns in a notional laser radar system, recent results at MIT Lincoln Laboratory have demonstrated this detection technique with optical returns from a diffuse target and identified the change in detection statistics from Poisson to negative binomial, further validating this scheme as a viable architecture.
展开▼
