Reduction of range walk error in direct detection laser radar using a Geiger mode avalanche photodiode

Abstract

In this paper a new technique to improve the accuracy of direct detection time-of-flight (TOF) laser radar using a Geiger mode avalanche photodiode (APD) by reducing range walk error is presented. Assuming that the creation of primary electrons in the APD is Poisson-distributed, a mathematical model for the detection probability of each time bin in a TOF histogram is derived. It is shown that the range walk error depends on the energy of the laser-return pulse at the Geiger mode APD with the mathematical model regarded as the TOF histogram of multiple laser pulses in a single-hit case. The method which reduces the range walk error with the center of mass detection in the TOF histogram is then proposed, and the experiment for its proof is carried out. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.