US 12,442,900 B2
Optical components for imaging
Thomas Pierre Schrans, Temple City, CA (US); and Andrew George Rickman, Altrincham (GB)
Assigned to Rockley Photonics Limited, Altrincham (GB)
Appl. No. 17/428,580
Filed by ROCKLEY PHOTONICS LIMITED, Altrincham (GB)
PCT Filed Feb. 6, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/053010
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 4, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/161250, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 13, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/838,768, filed on Apr. 25, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/828,376, filed on Apr. 2, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/824,223, filed on Mar. 26, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/820,761, filed on Mar. 19, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/802,164, filed on Feb. 6, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0283308 A1, Sep. 8, 2022
Int. Cl. G01S 7/481 (2006.01); G01S 17/42 (2006.01); G01S 17/89 (2020.01); G02B 27/42 (2006.01); G02F 1/29 (2006.01)
CPC G01S 7/4817 (2013.01) [G01S 7/4816 (2013.01); G01S 17/42 (2013.01); G01S 17/89 (2013.01); G02B 27/4233 (2013.01); G02F 1/292 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A LiDAR transceiver comprising an imaging component for receiving light, and a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) transmitter,
the imaging component comprising:
a PIC receiver, a slab, a wedge, and a lens, wherein the wedge has a front surface and an opposing back surface and the imaging component is arranged to define a receiving optical path through the front surface of the wedge, the receiving optical path continuing through the wedge and through the slab to the PIC receiver, the lens being configured to focus light of the receiving optical path onto the PIC receiver; and
the transceiver arranged to define a transmitting optical path from the transmitter, through the wedge and through the front surface of the wedge,
wherein the wedge comprises a transmitting window through which the transmitting optical path passes, the transmitting window having optical characteristics configured to allow light to enter the wedge at the back surface, pass through the wedge and exit the wedge at the front surface,
wherein the back surface of the wedge has a high reflection coating, comprising a metal or a multilayer coating, and the transmitting window is located at a gap in the coating,
wherein at the front surface of the wedge, a cross-sectional area of the receiving optical path is 20 to 200 times greater than a cross-sectional area of the transmitting optical path,
wherein the wedge has a thick end and an opposing thin end, the slab extending from the thick end of the wedge to a distal end surface of the slab coupled between a front surface of the slab and a back surface of the slab, the distal end surface configured to reflect light propagating along the receiving optical path toward the back surface,
wherein the transmitter is located behind the back surface of the wedge,
wherein the transceiver further comprises a diffractive optical element (DOE) at the front surface of the wedge such that the receiving optical path extends through the DOE and the transmitting optical path extends through the DOE, the DOE comprising:
a transmitting region configured to transmit, from a front surface of the DOE, a beam of light received at a back surface of the DOE; and
a receiving region configured to steer the azimuthal component of light incident on the front surface of the DOE by an amount dependent on wavelength and transmit the light from the back surface of the DOE with an azimuthal component that is independent of the wavelength of the light, and
wherein the receiving region is distributed on two opposing sides of the transmitting region.