Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) is critical to many fields in science and
industry. Over the last decade, optical frequency combs were shown to offer
unique advantages in optical ranging, in particular when it comes to fast
distance acquisition with high accuracy. However, current comb-based concepts
are not suited for emerging high-volume applications such as drone navigation
or autonomous driving. These applications critically rely on LIDAR systems that
are not only accurate and fast, but also compact, robust, and amenable to
cost-efficient mass-production. Here we show that integrated dissipative
Kerr-soliton (DKS) comb sources provide a route to chip-scale LIDAR systems
that combine sub-wavelength accuracy and unprecedented acquisition speed with
the opportunity to exploit advanced photonic integration concepts for
wafer-scale mass production. In our experiments, we use a pair of free-running
DKS combs, each providing more than 100 carriers for massively parallel
synthetic-wavelength interferometry. We demonstrate dual-comb distance
measurements with record-low Allan deviations down to 12 nm at averaging times
of 14 Ī¼s as well as ultrafast ranging at unprecedented measurement rates of
up to 100 MHz. We prove the viability of our technique by sampling the
naturally scattering surface of air-gun projectiles flying at 150 m/s (Mach
0.47). Combining integrated dual-comb LIDAR engines with chip-scale
nanophotonic phased arrays, the approach could allow widespread use of compact
ultrafast ranging systems in emerging mass applications.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, Supplementary information is attached in
'Ancillary files
