Apple Inc.

Nurul Taimur Islam

Helen H Liang

Malcolm J Northcott

Jack E Graves

Daniel Kravitz

Christopher M Rogers

Ehsan Shah-Hosseini

An optical sensing device includes a planar substrate and an array of optical transceivers disposed on the planar substrate. Each optical transceiver includes a photodetector, at least one turning mirror having a reflective surface disposed diagonally relative to the substrate, and multiple waveguides disposed parallel to the substrate. The waveguides include a transmit waveguide, which is coupled to convey outgoing light from a coherent light source to the at least one turning mirror for output from the optical transceiver, and a receive waveguide, which is coupled to receive incoming light reflected by the at least one turning mirror and to convey the incoming light to the photodetector.

LiDAR array with vertically-coupled transceivers

A range sensing apparatus includes a modulator that applies a frequency chirp to a light source, causing a nonlinear variation in a frequency of an outgoing beam towards a target. A detector receives both a portion of the outgoing beam and a reflection of the outgoing beam from the target. A processor, which linearizes the frequency chirp, extracts characteristic signals with and without linearization of the chirps to identify a range and velocity of the target.

Enhanced LiDAR measurements using chirp nonlinearities

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Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Nurul Taimur Islam