Researchers have shown that a quantum-inspired technique can be used to perform LiDAR imaging with a much higher depth resolution than is possible with conventional approaches. LiDAR, which uses laser pulses to acquire 3D information about a scene or object, is usually best suited for imaging large objects such as topographical features or built structures due to its limited depth resolution.
From an article in phys.org by Optica.
“Although LiDAR can be used to image the overall shape of a person, it typically doesn’t capture finer details such as facial features,” said research team leader Ashley Lyons from the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom. “By adding extra depth resolution, our approach could capture enough detail to not only see facial features but even someone’s fingerprints.”
In Optics Express, Lyons and first author Robbie Murray describe the new technique, which they call imaging two-photon interference LiDAR. They show that it can distinguish reflective surfaces less than 2 millimeters apart and create high-resolution 3D images with micron-scale resolution.
“This work could lead to much higher resolution 3D imaging than is possible now, which could be useful for facial recognition and tracking applications that involve small features,” said Lyons. “For practical use, conventional LiDAR could be used to get a rough idea of where an object might be and then the object could be carefully measured with our method.”
The new technique uses “quantum inspired” interferometry, which extracts information from the way that two light beams interfere with each other. Entangled pairs of photons—or quantum light—are often used for this type of interferometry, but approaches based on photon entanglement tend to perform poorly in situations with high levels of light loss, which is almost always the case for LiDAR. To overcome this problem, the researchers applied what they’ve learned from quantum sensing to classical (non-quantum) light.
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