Dual-frequency doppler lidar based on external optical feedback effect in a laser

A novel Dual-frequency Doppler LiDAR (DFDL) is presented where the dual-frequency light source is generated by using external optical feedback (EOF) effect in a laser diode (LD). By operating a LD at period-one (P1) state and choosing suitable LD related parameters, a dual-frequency light source can be achieved. Such a dual-frequency source has advantages of the minimum part-count scheme, low cost in implementation, and ease in optical alignment. Theory and system design are presented for the proposed DFDL for velocity measurement with high measurement resolution. The proposed design has a potential contribution to the Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) in practical engineering applications.