Voxtel Introduces New Family Of Lowest-Cost, Highest-Performance, Eye-Safe Laser Rangefinder Receivers

A highly sensitive avalanche photodiode (APD) receiver with integrated functionality establishes a new price performance benchmark for rangefinding applications

Voxtel, Inc. announces the release of a new family of lowest-cost laser rangefinder receivers (LRFR) for compact, low-power, weapon-mounted man-portable and unmanned aircraft (UAV) applications. The highly sensitive ROX LRFR reduces laser pulse energy requirements by a factor of five or greater, or it can extend the standoff range of existing lasers by two times or more.

“The ROX receiver relaxes demands on lasers and meets critical application performance needs,” says Voxtel President George Williams. “By providing system integrators with a highly sensitive, eye-safe receiver, our ROX receiver minimizes system constraints while reducing overall rangefinder system costs.”

Lasers are the primary cost component of rangefinder systems, requiring the most power and generating the most heat. Because the ROX LRFR lets system integrators use low-power lasers, system costs can be dramatically reduced.

Sensitive throughout the 950-nm to 1550-nm spectrum, including the eye-safe spectral range beyond 1400-nm, ROX LRFRs are designed for industry-leading sensitivity, high dynamic range (70dB) and high damage threshold (5MW/cm²). The reduced part count of the ROX increases both performance and reliability while significantly reducing cost. Wide spectral response allows compatibility with older generations of 1064-nm lasers as well as newer, eye-safe 1550-nm lasers.

Cost-comparable to a PIN-based receiver, the ROX LRFR achieves unprecedented levels of performance by integrating Voxtel’s low noise Deschutes indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) avalanche photodiodes (APDs) with custom detector biasing and signal-conditioning application-specific integrated circuits (ASICS), programmable configuration and control processing circuits, into a hermetic TO-8 package.

The ROX LRFR is the newest of Voxtel’s APD receiver products, which include receivers with bandwidths up to 5 Ghz and InGaAs APDs with gains in excess of 1,000. The ROX receiver is the first of a series of Voxtel planned packaged products that integrate laser rangefinder functionality.

See the ROX LRFR and learn more at SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing 2013, booth 2048, April 30 to May 2 in Baltimore, Md., or contact Voxtel directly at info@voxtel-inc.com.

About Voxtel, Inc.
Voxtel, Inc., of Beaverton, Ore., is a leading supplier of sophisticated time-of-flight detectors and 3D electro-optical imaging systems for a wide range of government, industrial and scientific markets. Voxtel’s product technologies include highly sensitive APDs, laser radar (LADAR) receivers and active/passive focal plane arrays. For more information, visit www.voxtel-inc.com.