Search for:

 


Laser Range Finder

 
Topics:
Laser Diode Pulsed and CW
Lenses and Beam Shaping
Beam Splitter
Retro Reflectors
Si PIN Photo Detector
Light Echoes
Time of Flight
LIDAR
 
   

 

 

Laser range finding is one of the applications of light detection and ranging known as LIDAR. The principle of this technique is well known from the RADAR (Radio Wave Detection And Ranging). Instead of using radio waves, the LIDAR uses light as electromagnetic wave. Both techniques are based on the emission of a short pulse of electromagnetic radiation and the reception of back scattered signals from a target. The time t between the emission and reception of the pulse is measured and the distance d is calculated based on the velocity v of electromagnetic radiation. Using v≈3×108 m/sec for the speed of light, the time interval t for a distance d of 10 m will be 60 nsec. The pulse duration must be modified to match the required resolution and distance. In this experiment, the shortest pulse duration is 75 nsec with a rise time of 10 nsec. When the laser pulse is launched, a photo detector is used to generate a start pulse signal which serves as trigger for the two channel oscilloscope. The trigger will be set to the falling edge of this pulse allowing the detection of distances also below 10 m. The second channel of the oscilloscope will be connected to the receiver photo detector. The power of the laser diode is limited to 30 mW for safety reasons and therefore a corner cube reflector is used as a target which is positioned to the object of interest. The controller of the diode laser can be operated in pulsed as well as in continuous mode. An external modulator can be applied to generate different pulse shapes. The capabilities of the controller also allows the characterisation of the laserdiode itself. The output power versus the injection current can be recorded and subsequently the modulation behaviour investigated. The figure above shows the complete arrangement of the Laser Range Finder set-up. With some modules this set-up can be upgraded for the „OTDR“ experiment. For this experiment, a two channel 100 MHz oscilloscope is required.

Principle of operation

Short light pulses are generated by means of a laserdiode (A) which is driven by a control unit. The divergent emission of the laser diode is collimated (B) and directed to the polarising beam splitter cube (C). The polarisation of the emission of the laserdiode is oriented for maximum transmission. A small amount of laser light is passed to the start pulse detector (G). For a low divergence on large distances the laser beam is expanded by the telescope consisting of the elements (K) and (M). The back reflected light from the triple reflector target (T) enters the telescope and has a different polarisation state and will therefore mainly be reflected at the polarising beam splitter cube (C). With the quarter wave plate (Q) the polarisation state can be influenced in such a way that almost the entire back reflected light is passed to the fast Si PIN Photo detector. The scattered light is focused by means of the imaging lens (H) onto the sensitive area of the photo detector. Since the rise time of the signal pulse is about 50-100 nsec and the back scattered light of several magnitudes less in intensity compared to the signal pulse, a high sensitive and fast photo detector with pre-amplifier is used.
 

Required Equipment
 
Cat. No. Qty. Description

Illustration


02.0300
02.0500

2
2

Profile rail OCM 650, 300 mm
Profile rail OCM 650, 500 mm

The main components of the experimental systems are the optical rails OCM 650. They are manufactured distortion-free and are of thermally stabilized aluminium. The surface is electro-polished and black anodized. Because of the precise manufacturing, the smoothness deviation is less than 25 µm/m and the deviation of the symmetry axis of the rail is less than 10 µm/m, thus maintaining the optical axis during displacement of the carrier.
The rail has a dovetail like profile. Gear racks can be inserted and fixed into the slots.
 

02.2063
02.2126
02.2132

1
2
1

Mounting plate OCM 650 RMS threading
Mounting plate OCM 650 for click 25
Mounting plate OCM 650 for click 30

Mounting plates are used to hold optical mounts. A characteristic feature of the mounting plates is the “click” mechanism of the inserts based on spring loaded spheres. Snapping in the groove of the inserted click mount, the optical element is kept in an exact position. On the other hand, the system allows a quick and easy change of the mounted inserts.
The mounting plates are made out of special anodized aluminum. Mounted onto the carrier 20 mm, the mounting plates can be placed onto an optical rail.
 

02.3022

1

XY-adjustment holder OCM 650 with 25 mm mount and carrier 20 mm

This frequently needed component is ideal for the fine adjustment of lenses, microscope objectives, diode laser, etc. with respect to the optical axis of the rail set-up. The displacement area is 5x5 mm. Different mounts can be attached to the adjustment holder. This model provides a holder for 25 mm cylindrical components.
 

04.0010

1

Microscope objective x 10 with RMS thread

The figure on the right shows the microscope objective screwed into an adjustment holder, however, it comes without the holder. The objective has a magnification of 10 and a numerical aperture of 0.3 and it is commonly used to collimate the divergent light emitted by laser diodes.
 

04.0040

1

Triple reflector (corner cube) mounted in click 30 mount

In all cases, when a beam shall be reflected parallel back into its incident direction, a corner cube or triple reflector is used. This module consists of an extended click 30 mm mount into which the corner cube is fixed by means of a threaded ring. The free opening is 22.4 mm.
 

04.0050

2

Biconvex lens f=60 mm in click 25 mount

Different glass lenses are mounted onto a special anodized aluminum click mount 25 mm by two threaded mounting rings to be used in connection with a mounting plate (02.2126).
 

04.0302

1

Infrared display card 0.8-1.2 µm

To convert invisible radiation in a wavelength range of 0.8-1.2 µm into visible light, this card is used. Depending on the incident power, the visible spot ranges from orange to white. This card can only be used for non-focused optical power up to 0.5 W.
 

04.0604

1

Beam splitter unit

For separated two beam interferometer in a Michelson arrangement such a module is needed. The design wavelength is 632 nm. The whole unit is mounted on a holder with a 25 mm stub which can be inserted into the adjustment holder of 02.1532.
 

05.0215

1

DIMO 820 OTDR (50 nsec)

This module consists of a X-Y fine adjustable holder in which the laser diode is mounted. Very fast electronic control is integrated in the laser head. The laser diode utilised is a CW laser diode with a maximum output power from 30 mW (TEM00) with a wavelength of 810 [+ 10 nm]. The laser diode is firmly connected with the control unit PLDC-01.
 

07.0003

1

Set of 3 BNC Connection leads

BNC cable with a length of 0.8 m with attached BNC connectors on both sides
 

07.0102

1

PIN Si Photo detector BPX 61 complete with housing

In a housing a PIN Si photo detector is mounted. Via a BNC connection the signal is fed to the respective pre-amplifier or oscilloscope. The module is clicked into the mounting plate, where it is fixed by means of three separate spring loaded balls which snap into the groove of the detector housing.
 

07.0202

1

PLDC-01 Pulsed laser diode controller

The PLDC-01 provides the complete supply to the laser diode and different modes of operation can be chosen.
Continuous operation:
In this mode the injection current can be continuously regulated for the set-up output. The selected injection current is displayed on a LED array.

Pulsed mode:
The pulse duration in this mode of operation is 75 nsec. The repetition rate is adjustable from 10-100 kHz.
Mode 50%:
The duty cycle or the pulse duty factor amounts to 50%.

TTL external.:
The attached laser diode can be controlled by means of externally originating TTL signals
Analogue external:

The laser diode can be controlled with an external analogue signal source. The offset adjustment for the working point of the laser diode must be done by the signal source. The input voltage should not exceed 1 V.
 

09.0124

1

Coupling optics with microscope objective x 20, mounted in XY-adjustment holder

Optics for coupling the laser diode radiation into the fibre. The microscope objective can be adjusted in the directions X and Y and in two orthogonal angles.
 

09.0134

1

Quarter wave plate mounted in rotational stage with carrier

In a rotatable mount, with a 360° scale, a quarter wave plate is mounted which serves a phase retarder in order to change the direction of polarisation of the back scattered light in such a way, that most of the light will be reflected to the detector at a polarising beam splitter.
 

09.0154

 


1

Module telescope optics

The module consists of two separate elements. The first mounting provides the first element with a biconcave lens and the second an achromat. The expansion ratio is designed to be 6x.
 

10.0150

1

EXP 15 manual
 

No illustration


Required Options
 


19.0140


1


Dual trace oscilloscope 100 MHz

Features:
Frequency Range: 150 kHz ~ 100MHz
Fully Digital Phase Locked Loop Technique Design
High Frequency Stability: ±10ppm
High Input Protection Level: +30dBm, ±25VDC
Reference Level Range: -30dBm ~ +20dBm
 


Options
 

09.0159
 

1
Set of spare parts

No illustration

 

 


 

 


 

Laser Fundamentals
EXP 02 Detection of Light
EXP 19 Radio and Photometry
EXP 01 Emission and Absorption
EXP 03 Fabry Perot Resonator
EXP 04 Diodelaser
EXP 06 HeNe-Laser
EXP 08 Diode Pumped Nd:YAG Laser
EXP 05 Frequency Doubling
EXP 07 Generation of short pulses
EXP 31 Fibre Ring Laser NEW
EXP 20 Laser Safety

Laser Metrology
EXP 10 Laser Interferometer I
EXP 10 Laser Interferometer II
EXP 10 Laser Interferometer III
EXP 16 Laser Gyroscope
EXP 32 Laser Fibre Gyroscope NEW
EXP 21 Laser Triangulation
EXP 22 Laser Levelling
EXP 15 Laser Range Finder
EXP 29 Laser Beam Analysis
EXP 30 LDA Laser Doppler Anemometer NEW
EXP 33 Laser Vibrometer NEW
EXP 34 Laser Frequency Stabilisation NEW

Laser Material Processing
EXP 09 CO2 Experimental Laser
EXP 17 CO2 Laser Workstation 100 W
EXP 18 Nd:YAG Laser Workstation 80 W
EXP 23 Laser Maintenance & Trouble Shooting

Fibre Optics
EXP 11 Plastic Fibre Optics
EXP 12 Glass Fibre Optics
EXP 13 Optical Time Domain Reflectometry
EXP 14 Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifier
EXP 24 Workshop Glass Fibre Optics
EXP 25 Data Transmission via Glass Fibre

Miscellaneous Applications
EXP 26 Open Frame CD Reader
EXP 27 Bar Code Reader
EXP 28 Laser Scanner