A compact, integrated
LIDAR system utilizes SOI-based opto-electronic components to provide for lower cost and higher reliability as compared to current
LIDAR systems. Preferably, an SOI-based
LIDAR transmitter and an SOI-based LIDAR
receiver (both optical components and electrical components) are integrated within a single module. The various optical and electrical components are formed utilizing portions of the SOI layer and applying well-known
CMOS fabrication processes (e.g., patterning,
etching,
doping), including the formation of additional layer(s) over the SOI layer to provide the required devices. A
laser source itself is attached to the SOI arrangement and coupled through an integrated modulation device (such as a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, i.e., MZI) to provide the scanning
laser output
signal (the scan controlled by, for example, an electrical (
encoder) input to the input to the MZI). The return, reflected optical
signal is received by a
photodetector integrated within the SOI arrangement, where it is thereafter converted into an electrical
signal and subjected to various types of
signal processing to perform the desired type(s) of signal characterization / signature analysis.