Ultrashort pulsewidth laser ranging system employing a time gate producing an autocorrelation and method therefore

摘要

An optical correlator is disclosed which, in combination with an ultrafast optical pulsed source, can be used for estimating distances of objects with submicron precision. The system includes at least one ultrafast pulsed laser source feeding into an amplitude-division device, an entity for launching pulsed radiation at the target along with an entity for collecting the radiation scattered or reflected off the surface of the object, a nonlinear device for timegating the collected signal with the amplitude-divided source, and a detection device for observing the timegated signal.