High-resolution long-distance depth imaging LiDAR with ultra-low timing jitter superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

Single-photon time-of-flight light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is a versatile technique for the measurement of absolute distances and for depth profiling. It has a wide variety of applications (e.g., land surveying, autonomous car navigation, underwater imaging) with the potential to achieve high-resolution three-dimensional images over long ranges when the key components of the measurement system are of a suitably high specification. In this work, a novel, high-efficiency, and low timing jitter superconducting nanowire single-photon detector, in conjunction with a custom single-pixel scanning transceiver system, and the time-correlated single-photon counting technique, enable the acquisition of millimeter-scale resolution depth images of scenes at standoff distances of hundreds of meters. A 1550 nm wavelength fiber laser was coupled to the monostatic transceiver to provide the illumination. The system was eye-safe with the maximum average optical output power being