White Paper: Geiger-Mode Avalanche Photodiode Focal Plane Arrays For Three-Dimensional Imaging LADAR

By Mark A. Itzler, Mark Entwistle, Mark Owens, Ketan Patel, Xudong Jiang, Krystyna Slomkowski, and Sabbir Rangwala, Princeton Lightwave Inc.; and Peter F. Zalud, Tom Senko, John Tower, and Joseph Ferraro, Sarnoff Corp.

Through the use of laser radar (LADAR) to obtain high-resolution range measurements at each pixel of an imager, it is possible to obtain image data in three spatial dimensions that provides information about imaged scenes and objects which is superior to that provided by traditional two-dimensional intensity images. Whereas intensity images require that object shapes be inferred from edge examination and complex image processing algorithms that generally require assumptions that are not implicit in the image data, three-dimensional data removes the ambiguity of edge determination and provides far more definitive information concerning imaged objects.