US 11,811,456 B2
Multi-pixel waveguide optical receiver
Chad Fertig, Bloomington, MN (US); and Matthew Wade Puckett, Phoenix, AZ (US)
Assigned to Honeywell International Inc., Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed by Honeywell International Inc., Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed on Mar. 30, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/217,628.
Prior Publication US 2022/0321228 A1, Oct. 6, 2022
Int. Cl. H04B 10/50 (2013.01); G02B 6/12 (2006.01); G02B 6/42 (2006.01); H01S 5/026 (2006.01)
CPC H04B 10/503 (2013.01) [G02B 6/12007 (2013.01); G02B 6/4246 (2013.01); H01S 5/0262 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system comprising:
an emitter that emits laser light towards a surface;
a receiver that passively receives reflected laser light that is a portion of the laser light reflected from the surface, wherein the receiver has multiple pixels having a size that is smaller than an expected optical speckle size, wherein the expected optical speckle size corresponds to a region on the receiver where the reflected laser light has a substantially uniform spatial phase, wherein the emitter is a diffraction grating emitter, the receiver is a diffraction grating receiver, and the emitter and the receiver are formed on an integrated photonics chip;
a combiner configured to combine optical fields from each pixel in the multiple pixels into an output that supports a number of modes that is equal to a number of pixels in the multiple pixels; and
a photodetector configured to receive light from the output.