Scalable megapixel resolution solid-state LiDAR architecture by dual-MEMS coarse-fine diffractive beam steering with crosstalk mitigation
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Flash LiDAR offers wide-field-of-view (FOV) imaging but suffers from short range and low spatial mapping density. Point-and-shoot LiDAR achieves longer range and higher resolution but suffers from reduced FOV and slower scanning rates. We present a hybrid solid-state LiDAR architecture that combines diffractive beam and holographic image steering using synchronized transmitter and receiver Digital Micromirror Devices (Tx-DMD and Rx-DMD) for coarse beam steering and a Phase Light Modulator (PLM) for fine holographic image steering. The Tx/Rx-DMD pair decouples the full FOV from the range by sequentially steering illumination and collection into matched diffracted sub-FOVs, while the PLM subdivides each sub-FOV into a 3×3 grid of sub-sub-FOVs. In this paper, we demonstrate a ninefold increase in sampling count from 7,168 to 64,512 points across 52.59°×7.32° FOV while achieving an angular resolution ranging from 0.153°-0.229° at 13.32 FPS. First-order optical modeling and receiver focal length optimization provide contiguous, non-overlapping illumination and imaging across DMD diffraction orders. Crosstalk from cover glass reflection and zeroth-order diffraction from both the DMD and PLM is reduced using Fourier-domain masking in the Tx-path and polarization-selective Fourier filtering in the Rx-path. The proposed architecture provides a scalable pathway from sub-megapixel LiDAR to multi-megapixel LiDAR through n^2 fold spatial sampling enhancement with reduced optical crosstalk.
Source: Optics Express
DOI: 10.1364/oe.613182
Language: English
Subfield: Instrumentation
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,270
OpenAlex ID: W7214065753