REVIEW

Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors:

a review

Hanno Holzhüter ,a,b,* Jörn Bödewadt,a Shima Bayesteh,a

Andreas Aschinger,a and Holger Blumeb
a
Ibeo AS, Hamburg, Germany
b
Leibniz University Hannover, Institute of Microelectronic Systems, Architectures and Systems,
Hanover, Germany

Abstract. Automotive LiDAR sensors are seen by many as the enabling technology for higher-
level autonomous driving functionalities. Different concepts to design such a sensor can be
found in the industry. Some have already been integrated into consumer cars while many others
promise to be in mass production soon to become cost-effective enough for broad deployment.
However, automotive LiDAR sensors are still evolving and a variety of sensor designs are pur-
sued by different companies. Here, we construct the automotive LiDAR design space to visually
depict system design options for these sensors. Subsequently, we exemplify the concepts with
drawings that can be found in published patent applications (focusing on scanning mechanisms
and scan patterns) before discussing their advantages and challenges. © 2023 Society of Photo-
Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) [DOI: 10.1117/1.OE.62.3.031213]
Keywords: automotive LiDAR design space; technical concepts; patent application drawings;
scanning mechanisms.
Paper 20221060SSV received Sep. 20, 2022; accepted for publication Dec. 8, 2022; published
online Jan. 10, 2023.

1 Introduction
Over the past years, a variety of different automotive light detection and ranging (LiDAR) con-
cepts and sensors have emerged. All aim at fulfilling the challenging requirements of car makers
outlined in Table 1. This work concentrates on system design choices with the intention to give
an overview of available options when building an automotive LiDAR sensor. The “automotive
LiDAR design space” of Sec. 2 depicts these options visually. In subsequent Secs. 3–5, we
examine concepts from drawings of published patent applications. These drawings are some-
times difficult to grasp. We therefore illustrate our understanding with a number of accompany-
ing figures. The procedure is shown in Fig. 1 with the help of a notional LiDAR concept. For
demonstration purposes, the drawing in Fig. 1(a) from published patent application Ref. 2 was
taken out of context. We pretend it shows a LiDAR sensor mounted in the grill of a car. The cone
indicates its field of view (FOV).
To visualize the overlap O between emitter (red) and receiver (turquoise) beams, we present
an overlap plot, as in Fig. 1(b), where useful (mostly for systems with separated emitters and
receivers as introduced later in Sec. 2.4). We also provide a basic principles illustration to high-
light the aspects of a sensor concept that are covered in this work [see Fig. 1(c)]. The setup to
visualize the temporal data acquisition/scan sequence is shown in Fig. 1(d). It shows a sensor
pointing toward a perpendicular wall to illustrate how we derive the scan pattern plotted in
Fig. 1(e) (here, the scanning direction is from left to right).
Excluded from this work are extensive discussions about individual components of LiDAR
sensors, such as emitters, receivers or optics and details on achievable distance resolution, signal-
to-noise ratio (SNR) derivations, and so on. For more on these topics, see Refs. 3–6. For general
introductions to the field of automotive LiDAR sensors, see Refs. 7–14.

*Address all correspondence to Hanno Holzhüter, [email protected]

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

Table 1 Automotive LiDAR sensor requirements (based on Ref. 1).

Parameter Symbol Short range Long range

FOV FOVhor × FOVvert 120 deg ×30 deg 40 deg ×20 deg

Hor. and vert. resolution Δφ; Δϑ ∼1 deg 0.1 deg to 0.15 deg

Range (10% reflectivity target) d 10% 60 m 200 m

Range resolution Δd <5 cm ∼5 cm

Frame rate f 25 Hz

Temperature range AEC-Q100 grade 2

(−40°C to 105°C) or better

Reliability AEC-Q100

Laser safety EN 60825-1 Class 1

Size 100 to 200 cm3

Power consumption <10 W

System cost (in USD) <$50 $100 to $200

(a)

(b) (c)

Perpendicular wall

(e)
Sensor

(d)

Fig. 1 Illustration of an imaginary LiDAR concept. (a) Drawing of a sensor concept from published
patent application Ref. 2. Labels (numbers 2, 4, 6,. . . ) will be annotated when helpful for the
explanations but otherwise left blank. (b) Overlap plot in the far field with receiver spot in turquoise
and emitter spot in red. (c) Image of the concept basics showing only a minimal number of com-
ponents to highlight important aspects of patent application drawings. Black arrows indicate how
and which parts are moving. (d) Visualization of the setup to explain how data acquisition pattern
as in Fig. 1(e) are derived. (e) Depiction of a data acquisition pattern on a perpendicular wall.
Sequence in time is illustrated by shades of red. t i indicates current data acquisition point, t i−1
the previous and t iþ1 the next point. Here, a scan from left to right is shown. The entire FOV
is conceptually represented by all black circles.

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

2 LiDAR Design Space

Figure 2 shows the automotive LiDAR design space with three axes that represent main aspects of
a LiDAR, namely, FOV coverage, measurement principle, and wavelength. Even though theo-
retically possible, not all combinations in Fig. 2 are technically viable. Every option along the
three axes of the design space is briefly introduced in Secs. 2.1–2.3. Later on, the FOV coverage
axis will serve as a guideline for the discussion of different LiDAR sensor concepts in Secs. 3–5.

2.1 Field of View Coverage

FOV coverage describes possibilities to cover a two-dimensional (2D) FOV, namely, FOVhor ×
FOVvert with resolution Δφ; Δϑ from Table 1. Options are separated into three categories, i.e.,
classical/mechanical or semi solid-state scanning as well as solid-state approaches.

2.1.1 Classical/mechanical scanning

The term classical scanning in this work describes every sensor that utilizes rotating/moving
parts, which are driven by direct current (DC) or stepper motors, and consequently, need to cope
with friction and abrasion. The benefit of using macroscopic scanning mechanisms, such as
rotating mirrors or a spinning sensor is the possibility to cover wide FOVs with relative ease.
Sensor concepts utilizing motors are discussed in Sec. 3.

2.1.2 Semi solid-state scanning

A system categorized as semi solid-state has typically two characteristics. It is operated in the elastic
regime of their materials stress–strain behavior where there is no wearing/aging (hence, no need for
lubrication) and it oscillates in resonance to make it robust against shocks. Representatives of semi
solid-state scanning systems are for example micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) mirrors.
However, boundaries of the semi solid-state category are not well defined. Systems that do not
oscillate in resonance are sometimes still referred to as semi solid-state, see Sec. 4.

2.1.3 Solid-state approaches

Solid-state sensors have no moving parts. They either do not scan or use a mechanism to change
parameters, such as phase or wavelength (e.g., electronically) that allows for the emission and

Wavelength
Semi
Solid-state Classical
solid-state

Flash
SWIR, e.g.,
MEMS Mechanical
OPA Spectral def lection
ion
NIR, e.g.,

FOV coverage TOF analog

e

TOF digital
pl
ci
in
pr
s.
ea
M

FMCW

Fig. 2 Automotive LiDAR design space.

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

detection of light from different angles of their FOV (Sec. 5). Representatives of solid-state
scanning mechanisms in Fig. 2 are flash (no scanning), spectral deflection, as well as optical
phased array (OPA).

2.2 Measurement Principle

The term “measurement principle” refers to the concept of how the sensor gathers range
(and additional) information by emitting light that gets reflected off of an object and is sub-
sequently received by the detector. We distinguish between time-of-flight (TOF) with analog
and digital processing of the received signal as well as frequency modulated continuous wave
(FMCW). An overview including electrical circuits for each principle is provided in Ref. 15.
Amplitude modulated continuous wave applications are not covered in this work. An introduc-
tion to them can be found in Ref. 16.

2.2.1 Time-of-flight analog

Analog TOF LiDAR sensors measure round trip time Δt (which can be converted to distance
with d ¼ Δt·c2 and c the speed of light) of a single pulse. Figure 3 shows a TOF measurement
cycle. To determine received optical power Prec, the LiDAR equation17–20 from Eq. (1) can be
used. It relates Prec to emitted power Pem, target reflectivity ρ, optical system efficiency ηsys,
one way atmospheric absorption τatm , area of detector entrance pupil Ade , and distance d. For
Eq. (1) to be applicable, we assume an emitter beam with uniform beam profile and target dimen-
sions far bigger than the emitters and receivers spot sizes. In addition, we expect Lambertian
reflection properties of the target material and a complete overlap21,22 of emitter and receiver
spots on the target as shown in Fig. 4.
The distinction between “analog” and “digital” TOF describes how the received signal is
processed. Analog TOF refers to sensors whose detector output (the photocurrent) has a linear
relation to the impinging optical energy. Such detectors are, e.g., avalanche photo diodes (APDs)
used in conjunction with transimpedance amplifier, comparator and time-to-digital converter
(TDC) as outlined in Ref. 23. The processed photocurrent is a voltage signal similar to the black

Fig. 3 Artist illustration of the TOF measurement principle. (a) Pulse emission and start of time
measurement. (b) Pulse before reflection. (c) Reflected pulse on its way back to sensor.
(d) Detection of pulse, determination of Δt .

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

Lambertian target

Complete overlap

(1)

Receiver beam
Emitter beam

Fig. 4 Illustration of assumptions for Eq. (1).

Photocurrent
Threshold
High
Voltage signal

U / a.u.
I / a.u.

Low

Time / a.u.

Fig. 5 Plot of analog TOF measurement data.

bold line shown in Fig. 5. It is set from low to high whenever the photocurrent rises above the
detection threshold and vice versa. TDCs24 are used to determine when the threshold crossing
happened. Distance resolution of Δd ¼ 5 cm (Table 1) requires TDC clock frequencies of
f TDC ¼ 2Δd
c
¼ 3331 ps ≈ 3 GHz.
Unfortunately, abstracting photocurrent with a box-like voltage signal leads to loss of infor-
mation. Using analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to digitize the photocurrent requires them to
have a sampling rate of at least 1 to 10 GHz to be able to sample nanosecond pulses and provide
the required distance resolution. Such fast ADCs tend to be too expensive for automotive LiDAR
applications, cf., system cost from Table 1. However, there is an alternative way to obtain a
digital signal from TOF measurements.

2.2.2 Time-of-flight digital

Digital TOF refers to sensors that acquire a digitized representation of photocurrent by accu-
mulating multiple (up to hundreds) emitted pulses with single-photon avalanche diodes
(SPADs).25 SPADs are binary detecting devices meaning there is no linear relation between their
output signal and the impinging optical energy. Instead, they indicate the arrival of a single
photon at a given moment in time. The information about how many photons arrived is lost.
After being triggered, SPADs need to be quenched and recharged before they are ready for
another detection. The quench and recharge duration is called dead time. Each detection event
is stored in a histogram whose shape approaches the shape of the photocurrent (Fig. 5) with a
sufficiently high number of accumulated pulses. The technique is called time-correlated single
photon counting (TCSPC).26–30 Figure 6 shows a direct comparison between an analog and
digital TOF measurement signal. Quantization steps in t of the digital signal in Fig. 6(b) depend
(as in analog TOF) on the clock frequency of the TDCs in use. digital TOF signals are naturally
processed with digital signal processing (DSP) techniques. Hence, parameters, such as noise
level, peak position, height of the peak, its skewness or center of gravity can be determined
more easily. However, since the accumulation of multiple pulses is required for TCSPC, a digital
TOF measurement requires more time than measuring the round trip time of a single pulse in
analog TOF.

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

Photocurrent Photocurrent

Ampl. / a.u.

Ampl. / a.u.
Analog signal Digital signal

Time / a.u. Time / a.u.

(a) (b)

Fig. 6 Graphical comparison of TOF analog and digital signals. (a) Processed photocurrent in
analog TOF. (b) Processed photocurrent in digital TOF.

2.2.3 Frequency modulated continuous wave

FMCW measurements differ from TOF measurements in various aspects besides pulsed versus
continuous light emission. Here, the quantity of interest is a beat frequency f beat obtained by
chirping the emitters frequency f out and subsequently mixing (optical interference) a portion of
outgoing with incoming light. This method is called heterodyne optical mixing.31 Figure 7(a)
top schematically shows outgoing (in red) and incoming light shifted in frequency and time
(in turquoise) on a compressed time scale to visualize frequencies on the order of ν ≈ 300 THz.
The bottom graph of Fig. 7(a) shows the mixed signal in gray as well as its envelope, i.e., the beat
signal, in black. The beat signals frequency f beat can be determined with a fast Fourier transform
applied to the output signal of, e.g., a biased photo detector and is given by f beat ¼ fout2−fin. It
contains information not only about Δt but also Doppler shift. Hence, target distance d as well as
relative, radial velocity can be determined32,33 by applying signal processing techniques known
from radio detection and ranging (RaDAR)34,35 sensors.

2.3 Wavelength
The operating wavelength of a LiDAR sensor has direct implications not only on the sensor’s
emitter but also on its receiver. Automotive LiDARs are generally operated with a wavelength
that is above the spectral sensitivity range of the human eye.
Near infrared (NIR) operating wavelengths typically range from 850 to 940 nm. It is silicon
as detector material that makes this wavelength range attractive. Silicon can be processed with
highly optimized and cost efficient semi-conductor manufacturing techniques. Its peak sensitiv-
ity is around 900 to 1000 nm with a steep drop-off at 1100 nm36 where silicon becomes trans-
parent. The major downside of NIR wavelength are eye safety limitations that prevail in this
regime (close proximity to the visible range of the human eye) and restrict the optical energy
output.
Amp. / a.u.

Freq. / a.u.
Amp. / a.u.

Time / a.u. Time / a.u.

(a) (b)

Fig. 7 Plots of FMCW signals with received signal shifted in time and frequency. (a) Visualization
of FMCW signals in the time domain: outgoing (red) and incoming (turquoise) light, both mixed in
gray with envelope in black. (b) Signal plots in the frequency domain: outgoing f out (red) and
incoming f in (turquoise) as well as envelope frequency f beat (black).

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

Short-wave infrared (SWIR) operating wavelengths (above 1100 nm up to 1550 nm)

represent all non-silicon detectors with, e.g., indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) as detector
material. The significant benefit of these wavelengths is a higher level of permitted optical output
power compared to the NIR regime. Emitted pulses on the order of nanoseconds, for example,
can contain roughly five orders of magnitude more optical power at 1550 nm compared to
905 nm and are still within the eye safety limitations for laser class 1.37 A compelling argument
for higher wavelength since the amount of emitted energy is related to detection range d in the
LiDAR equation from Eq. (1). Photons with higher wavelength (λ > 1100 nm), however, are
less energetic than photons from the NIR regime. The band gap of III-V materials (such as
InGaAs) needed to detect these photons is narrower compared to silicon. Unwanted excitations
by, e.g., thermal phonons are, consequently, more likely38 which makes these detectors more
prone to noise.
Many publications about advantages and disadvantages of NIR (utilizing mature, cost effi-
cient silicon) or SWIR (non-silicon detectors but more optical output power) operating wave-
lengths can be found in the literature.39–41 The effects of solar background flux versus water
absorption in both wavelength regimes have been discussed in, e.g., Refs. 42–44.

2.4 Co- and Biaxial Systems

There is another design parameter, a fourth axis that is not included in the design space shown in
Fig. 2, namely, type of measurement channel (coaxial or biaxial). In most cases, choosing
between the two is not an option because the channel type is dictated by the choice of,
e.g., measurement principle or used components. Figure 8 shows both channel variants
schematically.
Coaxial measurement channels have a shared optical path for emitter (red) and receiver
(turquoise). This is achieved by a path splitting element (a splitter can be a mirror with a hole)
that overlays both beams. Overlap O of emitter and receiver in this configuration is O ¼ 1 for all
distances [Figs. 8(a) and 8(b)]. The downside of a shared optical path is that coaxial channels are
optically shorted (direct path from emitter to receiver within the channel). The result is signal on
the receiver during every emission of a pulse, which makes object detections in close proximity
challenging.
Biaxial measurement channels are channels where emitter and receiver have separated optical
paths. The separation lowers the risk of optical shorts but aligning emitter to receiver to have
good overlap45 for all measurement distances can be demanding. Figure 8(c) shows how O ¼ 1
[as displayed for the far field in Fig. 8(d)] cannot be realized at d ¼ 0 m.
Analog TOF sensors can be found with co- as well as biaxial measurement channels
(Sec. 3.1) while digital TOF sensors (Sec. 3.2) exclusively use biaxial configurations.
SPADs of a hypothetical coaxial measurement channel in a digital TOF sensor would trigger
during the emission of a pulse and, therefore, be blinded (dead time) for the detection of close
objects. FMCW measurements require a combination of co- and biaxial channel layout, since
outgoing and incoming light need to interfere on the detector when realizing heterodyne optical
mixing as shown in Fig. 9.

Receiver
Receiver
Emitter
Splitter
Emitter
(a) (b) (c) (d)

Fig. 8 Visualization of coaxial and biaxial measurement channel configurations. (a) Illustration of a
coaxial measurement channel. (b) Overlap plot coaxial channel. (c) Illustration of a biaxial meas-
urement channel. (d) Overlap plot biaxial channel.

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

Incoming light

Splitter

Outgoing light

Optical interference
on detector

Fig. 9 Concept view on FMCW measurement channel with heterodyne optical mixing.

3 Classical Scanning Sensors

The maturity of classical scanners has led to a variety of sensor concepts that utilize mechanical
scanning methods. There are many spinning sensors as well as sensors with rotating mirrors. But
also galvano scanners or rotating Risley prisms driven by motors can be found. We use f rot to
describe rotation frequency with, e.g., f rot ¼ 1 Hz for one rotation per second. Additionally, we
use tmc to indicate minimum time required for a measurement cycle. For TOF measurements
tmc ¼ N pulses 2dcmax (with number of pulses N pulses ) where we neglect additional time for data
processing since it is usually done in parallel. In analog TOF the number of pulses is N pulses ¼
1 (cf., Sec. 2.2.1) and for digital TOF N pulses can reach values in the range of hundreds, see
Sec. 2.2.2. During an FMCW measurement cycle (tmc;fmcw is sometimes called dwell time),
no pulses but a continuous wave is emitted. Interference of outgoing and incoming light on the
detector is required to obtain f beat . An unambiguous analysis of offsets in time and frequency
typically requires one period of double ramp modulation (Sec. 2.2.3), which is on the order of
tmc;fmcw ≈ 10 μs. Subsequent sections illustrate how various classical scanning options can be
combined with different measurement principles and wavelengths.

3.1 Classical Scanning with Analog Time-of-Flight

Many of the classical scanning LiDAR systems rely on analog TOF measurements with either
NIR or SWIR operating wavelength. The most established ones are spinning sensors and sensors
with rotating mirrors. Other variants use galvano scanners, rotating Risley prisms or combina-
tions of the before mentioned components.

3.1.1 Rotating sensor and mirror

Figure 10 shows a sensor concept utilizing mechanical scanning (sensor rotation) and analog
TOF with an operating wavelength in the NIR regime. The drawings of published patent appli-
cation Ref. 46 in Figs. 10(a) and 10(b) show front and back side of the sensor. It has several tens
of biaxial channels stacked vertically and a lens pair (receiver and emitter) for beam forming
purposes. The whole setup is rotated on a spindle. Scan pattern and basic conceptual view are
shown in Figs. 10(c) and 10(d), respectively. The conceptual view only shows four vertically
stacked channels with receivers on the left and emitters on the right. A rotation direction is
indicated by the black arrow. For the sake of simplicity, we disregard proper visualization of
emitter and receiver alignment/lenses by displaying parallel beams only (receiver beam in tur-
quoise, emitter beam in red). In practice, emitter and receiver within a biaxial measurement
channel do, of course, overlap while all channels fan out to form a vertical line.
The vertical angular resolution, Δϑ, is determined by the channel spacing as well as used
optics which affect the divergence of each channel. The horizontal angular resolution is equal
to the angle the rotating sensor passes between two received pulses. It is given by Δφ ¼ ffrep
rot
with
FOVvert;long
the pulse repetition frequency f rep. Realizing N points;vert ¼ Δϑ ¼ 0.1 deg ¼ 200 (from
20 deg

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

30: emitter hybrid board

32: detector hybrids
40: mirror
50: lens

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 10 Illustration of a spinning sensor concept with drawings from Ref. 46. (a) Front side view on
opened sensor. (b) Back side view. (c) Display of a conceptual scan pattern for a rotating sensor or
mirror. All vertical channels measure simultaneously. The opening angle between channels
causes a characteristic cushion shape with lines that expand with increasing distance to the sur-
face normal. (d) Concept basics drawing of a spinning sensor.

Table 1) requires stacking and aligning 200 individual measurement channels. A horizontal FOV
of 360 deg can be covered by mounting the sensor, e.g., on the cars roof.
A similar concept (analog TOF and NIR wavelength) with a mirror instead of a rotating
sensor is shown in Fig. 11 with drawings from published patent application Ref. 47. The beams
of both receiver and emitter stacks (here, positioned above each other) are simultaneously
scanned by the rotating mirror. The plate separator visible in Fig. 11(a) and also shown in the
sensors concept view of Fig. 11(b) minimizes crosstalk (optical shorts, cf., Sec. 2.4). Reaching
N points;vert on the order of hundreds is challenging due to hardware/assembly limitations, but the
compact design shown in Fig. 11(c) allows for a seamless integration into the body of a car.
However, covering a wider FOVvert > 120 − 140 deg is basically impossible for sensors that
shall not stick out of the car. The scan pattern of a sensor with rotating mirror is similar to the
one of a rotating sensor [cf., Fig. 10(c)].
Figure 12 shows a LiDAR concept from published patent application Ref. 48 that utilizes a
polygon mirror to scan in horizontal direction. Vertical scanning is realized with a motor that
controls a mirror via pulleys and a belt. This is a point-wise scanning concept that scans a single,
coaxial measurement channel (indicated by the “emitter,” “receiver,” and “splitter” annotations).
High frame rates of f ≈ 25 Hz for FOV, Δφ, Δϑ from Table 1 and a maximum measurement
range of dmax ¼ 300 m are challenging to achieve as the calculation of the acquisition time for a
single frame, tframe;ac , in Eq. (2) shows as follows:

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

11 + 12: light sources

light
15: transmitted-light
irror
deflection mirror
te
22: partition plate
23: motor
30: photoreceiverer
on lens
32: light reception

(b)

(c)
(a)

Fig. 11 Illustration of a rotating mirror implementation that scans biaxial stacks of emitters and
receivers (Ref. 47). (a) Drawing of a sensor with scanning mirror. (b) Illustration of sensor concept
basics. (c) Sensor sketch with closed cover.

12: polygon mirror

Emitter 14: planar mirror
66 + 68: pulleys
74: drive belt
Splitter

Receiver

Fig. 12 Sketch of a sensor concept with polygon mirror and coaxial measurement channel from
published patent application Ref. 48.

FOVhor FOVvert 40 deg 20 deg 2dmax 1

tframe;ac ¼ tmc ¼ ≈ 160 ms > 40 ms ¼ : (2)
Δφ Δϑ f
EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;e002;116;220

0.1 deg 0.1 deg c

For f ¼ 25 Hz the acquisition time is required to be four times shorter. The concept realizes a
large receiver aperture Ade which is beneficial for maximum measurement range since it
increases Prec in Eq. (1). To further improve d10% (cf., Table 1), this sensor is operated with
a SWIR wavelength that allows for higher optical output power as outlined in Sec. 2.3.

3.1.2 Galvano scanner

Another motor-driven scanning mechanism utilizes two galvano scanners. A possible coaxial
system is conceptually shown in Fig. 13. The use of galvano scanners enables basically arbitrary
scan patterns (within the limits of the motors used) while the patterns of rotating sensors or

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 13 Illustration of a sensor concept with double galvano scanner and coaxial measurement
channel. (a) Concept view and illustration of the galvano mirror movements. (b) Display of emitter
and receiver beams in galvano scanner concept. (c) Plot of a possible scan pattern realized with a
double galvano scanner.

11: laser diode

18: photo-diode
13 + 20: mirror
15 + 22: motor

Vertical scanning of
beam receiving area

Lateral scanning by
transmitted-beam

(a) (b)

Fig. 14 Representation of a sensor concept with biaxial galvano scanner. (a) Drawing of a LiDAR
sensor with biaxial galvano mirrors scanning a emitter and receiver line (from Ref. 49). (b) Far field
overlap of emitter and receiver.

mirrors are dictated by rotation axes and number of channels. A check pattern, for example, is
possible [shown in Fig. 13(c)] to ease data analysis with perception algorithms originating from
image processing. A single coaxial measurement channel with a double galvano scanner has the
same limitations that were previously derived in Eq. (2).
A biaxial, double galvano scanner sensor concept is visualized in Fig. 14. The drawing from
published patent application Ref. 49 in Fig. 14(a) shows one scanner on the emitter and the other
one on the receiver side. Separated emitter and receiver paths are beneficial when it comes to
avoiding optical shorts but signal can only be generated where emitter and receiver lines cross
each other, see Fig. 14(b). Hence, this concept scans point-wise with the challenge of achieving
f ¼ 25 Hz satisfying FOV and Δφ; Δϑ requirements from Table 1. A line-wise detector does not
only receive signal photons from the crossing point of emitter and receiver line, but also addi-
tional background light outside the crossing point. Like-wise does a line emitter consume more
(optical) power to emit photons along a whole line instead of a point. Nonetheless, two galvano
scanners allow for flexible scan patterns that can be tailored to specific use-cases.

3.1.3 Risley prism scanner

Rotating Risley prisms present an alternative mechanical scanning mechanism. These systems
consist of two consecutive wedged prisms that can be rotated with different rotation speeds.50 A
sensor implementation of such a scanner with a coaxial, analog TOF measurement channel and
point-wise scanning is shown in Fig. 15. It includes drawings from published patent application
Refs. 51 and 52. Figure 15(a) shows the coaxial measurement channel configuration, and a cross
section of a Risley prism scanner is illustrated in Fig. 15(b). The concept basics are shown in
Figs. 15(c) and 15(d).

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

101: light source

105: detector
211 + 212: prisms

(b)

Prism inside

(a)

(c) (d)

Fig. 15 Depiction of a sensor concept with Risley prism scanner and coaxial measurement chan-
nel. (a) Coaxial measurement channel with Risley prism scanner taken from published patent
application Ref. 51. (b) Risley prism scanner with bearings and middle shaft from Ref. 52.
(c) Rotation visualization of a scanner with Risley prisms. (d) Coaxial emitter and receiver path
of a Risley prism scanner.

(a) (b)

Fig. 16 Plots of a data acquisition pattern for a sensor with a Risley prisms scanner. (a) Hypo-
trochoid scan pattern from a Risley prism scanner. (b) Illustration of the construction of
hypotrochoids.

The pattern of a Risley prism scanner can be plotted with hypotrochoids.53 Figure 16(a)
shows such a rosette-like scan pattern. They are derived from the rotation of a circle [gray
in Fig. 16(b)] on the inside of a bigger circle (black). The drawing point for hypotrochoids
is located at the end of a handle (red) that is fixated on the inner, rotating circle. A classical

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

frame acquisition with a Risley prism scanner is not possible. Constant f rep leads to a scan pat-
tern as shown in Fig. 16(a). Point density is high in the center as well as the outer regions but
more sparse in between. Frames also do not have a given number of horizontal and vertical points
but rather build up over time.

3.2 Classical Scanning with Digital Time-Of-Flight

Scanning mechanisms discussed in Sec. 3.1 achieve continuous rotation. A sensor keeps on
spinning while measuring (i.e., emitting and receiving light). The influence of the sensor’s rota-
tion on data acquisition in analog TOF measurements can be neglected since the ‘sweep through’
angle, αst is small. It is given by αst ¼ tmc f rot FOVhor and results to αst;analog ¼ 0.018 deg, with a
measurement cycle time of tmc ≈ 2 μs for N pulses ¼ 1 and dmax ¼ 300 m. In digital TOF mea-
surements that is TCSPC (cf., Sec. 2.2.2), the data acquisition requires up to multiple hundred
emitted pulses. Hence, tmc becomes significantly longer which leads to bigger αst;digital. A longer
acquisition time causes motion blur since the sensor keeps on rotating instead of eyeing at a fixed
solid angle during measurement time. To avoid this effect one can either work with lower f rot
(linked to f) or implement a digital counter rotation to compensate for the rotation of the sensor.
In the remaining part of this section, we introduce two spinning sensors [their scan pattern are
comparable to the one shown in Fig. 10(c)] utilizing digital TOF (TCSPC). The idea of a digital
counter rotation54 is to electronically switch counter rotation-wise from one vertical stack of

1510: Tx module 3120: stationary base

1522: light emitters 3122: rotational housing
1524: micro-lens layer
1525: transmitter channel

(a) (b)

504: emitter
505: housing
508: detector
509: optical element
511: aperture
515: analyzer
518: axle
521: power unit
522: memory
523: motor

(c) (d)

Fig. 17 Drawings of spinning LiDAR concept with biaxial, digital TOF measurement channels
operating in the NIR and SWIR wavelength regime. (a) Tansmitter unit drawing of a digital
TOF sensor concept from Ref. 55. (b) Schematical drawing of the mechanical scanning mecha-
nism (Ref. 55). (c) Concept view of digital counter rotation. (d) Sketch of a digital TOF sensor
operating with SWIR wavelength from Ref. 56.

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

measurement channels to a neighboring stack of measurement channels during the acquisition of

data. If the switching speed matches f rot , the measurement angle can be kept constant so that
(almost) no motion blur occurs. It is effectively an increase of tmc and, therefore, N pulses .
Drawings from published patent applications Refs. 55 and 56 show concepts combining classical
sensor rotation with digital TOF and are shown in Fig. 17.
Figure 17(a) shows a TCSPC module that is integrated into the spinning sensor of Fig. 17(b).
It employs a digital counter rotation method that is visually depicted in Fig. 17(c), where the
temporal activation of stacks–indicated by the fading color–is against the sensors rotation direc-
tion (black arrow). Conceptually, both sensors shown in Figs. 17(b) and 17(d) are similar. Their
mechanical platforms are comparable to the one shown in Fig. 10 but their operating wave-
lengths differs. The sensor shown in Fig. 17(b) utilizes an NIR wavelength whereas the sensor
from Fig. 17(d) operates in the SWIR regime.

3.3 Classical Scanning with Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave

Different FMCW sensors make use of polygon mirrors for horizontal scanning, which were
introduced in Fig. 12. The concept of Fig. 18 with a drawing from published patent application
Ref. 57 in Fig. 18(a) uses a scanning approach based on a polygon mirror that scans three parallel
FMCW measurement channels. The polygon mirror has five facets to scan horizontally while
vertical scanning can, for example, be achieved with a galvano scanner. The concept basics for a
single FMCW measurement channel are shown in Figs. 18(b) and 18(c). Each facet of the poly-
gon can cover up to FOVhor ¼ 2 × 360 deg ∕5 ¼ 144 deg (incident angle equals reflection
angle). The vertical FOV depends on the size of the facet mirrors and the mechanical arrange-
ment of the scanner.

Fig. 18 Illustration of a sensor concept that uses a polygon mirror to scan multiple FMCW mea-
surement channels in parallel. (a) Sensor concept diagram of an FMCW LiDAR with mechanical
scanning mechanism from published patent application Ref. 57. (b) Visualization of the basic
movements of a scanner consisting of a polygon and galvano mirror. (c) Beam path of an
FMCW measurement channel with scanner.

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

500
502
rotational
velocity 543

528a, 528b 529

501

520a, 520b 580

bearings
506b
facet
530
506a
522 505 facet
rotor
524 534
coils motor
526
stator

(a) (b)

Fig. 19 Illustration of a sensor concept with an FMCW measurement channel that is scanned by a
rotating polygon lens. (a) Sketch of an FMCW LiDAR concept using a polygon lens with tilted
facets from Ref. 58. (b) Scan pattern visualization of a polygon mirror either with tilted facets
or an additional galvano scanner.

Another FMCW concept is shown in Fig. 19. It does not have an additional galvano scanner
but instead uses tilted facets of a polygon lens to scan vertically as depicted in the drawing of
Fig. 19(a) from published patent application Ref. 58. Here, the light is deflected while passing
through a rotating polygon lens instead of being reflected from a polygon mirror. An exemplary
scan pattern for both polygon concepts is shown in Fig. 19(b). Ideas how to achieve a polygon
scan pattern that is comparable to the one of rotating sensors [cf., Fig. 10(c)] are provided
in Ref. 59.

4 Semi Solid-State Sensors

Semi solid-state scanning refers to systems that do have moving parts but are robust against
shocks and vibrations. Additionally, they are operated in the elastic regime of their stress-strain
behavior where Hooke’s law60 is applicable. In this section, we distinguish between sensors
incorporating MEMS mirrors, oscillating carriers and binary MEMS mirror arrays.

4.1 Micro-Electro-Mechanical System Mirrors

MEMS mirrors are small mirrors whose movement is controlled via electromagnetic, electro-
thermal or electrostatic actuation. Also piezoelectric actuators are used.61–63 During operation
these mirrors oscillate in one or two directions64,65 either in resonance or in a more controlled,
quasi-static mode. We divide MEMS mirrors into mirrors with dimensions on a millimeter-scale
and mirrors on a centimeter-scale.

4.1.1 Millimeter-scale mirrors

Mirrors with a diameter of a couple of millimeters that oscillate in resonance are often referred
to as solid-state. If they are operated at their natural frequency they tend to be robust against
shocks as following calculation of g-force shows. Assuming a round MEMS mirror of size
Dmems ¼ 3 mm, a maximum scan angle of θmax ¼ 15 deg and a natural frequency f mems ¼
2 kHz we can calculate the tangential acceleration at as

Dmems
at ¼ −rθmax ω2 sinðωtÞ ¼ −
EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;sec4.1.1;116;132 θmax ð2πf mems Þ2 sinð2πf mems tÞ:
2

The above equation reaches maxima, at;max , at sinð2πf mems tÞ ¼ 1. Hence, we can derive
maximum g-force by dividing at;max with the gravitational acceleration g

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

at;max Dmems 1
EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;sec4.1.1;116;735 ¼ θmax ð2πf mems Þ2 ≈ 6000 g:
g 2 g

Such g-force at the edges of the mirror make it practically immune to vibrations in an automotive
context where the forces of most shocks do not exceed a couple 100 g. The natural frequency of
resonating MEMS mirrors depends on their mass and spring constant. The bigger the mirror
(more mass) the smaller its natural frequency which results in less resistance against shocks
(Sec. 4.1.2). Hence, for systems that scan a coaxial measurement channel there is a trade-off
between size of the mirror (equal to Ade from Eq. (1) and directly linked to Prec ) and robustness
(increases with smaller Dmems i.e. higher f mems ).
A sensor concept with two resonant mirrors is shown in Fig. 20 with drawings from pub-
lished patent applications Refs. 66 and 67. Figure 20(a) shows a scanning emitter that incor-
porates the mirrors shown in Fig. 20(b) to form a biaxial sensor with a non-scanning
detector as shown in Figs. 20(c) and 20(d). Since the FOV of the detector is significantly larger
than the emitter spot [see Fig. 20(e)], there is a need to optimize SNR by operating at a SWIR
wavelength allowing for more optical output power.
Scan patterns generated by such a scanning mechanism can be described with Lissajous68
figures. Examples of these figures are shown in Fig. 21. If pulses are emitted with a constant f rep ,
point density is high at the turning points of one or the other MEMS mirror and low where
maximum oscillation speed is reached [Fig. 21(a)]. However, one can synchronize pulse emis-
sions with one of the two mirrors to have evenly spaced points in one of the scanning directions
as shown in Fig. 21(b). Ideas how to derive an application oriented scan pattern with two
oscillating mirrors are described in Ref. 69.
Since a point-wise scanning mechanism has its limitations when optimizing for a higher
frame rate f, there are other sensor concepts that parallelize multiple measurement channels.
Some make use of bigger mirrors with one or two slower scanning axes and, consequently,
smaller natural frequencies f mems . However, smaller f mems shift the scanning mechanisms away
from being considered solid-state since they become more prone to vibrations in this mode of
operation.

Scan area (510)

Y-axis “slow axis”

scanning MEMS mirror
Y-axis

Field-of-view (502) Y-axis closed

loop feedback
magnificaon system
(506)
optics (306) X-
ax
is
Pulsed fiber
laser (300)
X-axis closed X-axis “ fast axis”
loop feedback scanning MEMS mirror Laser optics (302)
system (500)
(504)

(a) (b)

1D MEMS mirrors

(c) (d) (e)

Fig. 20 Depiction of a sensor concept utilizing two resonant MEMS mirrors to scan the emitter.
(a) Schematical drawing of a scanning emitter with the help of two resonating MEMS mirrors (pub-
lished patent application Ref. 66). (b) Design of two MEMS mirrors for scanning horizontally and
vertically (published patent application Ref. 67). (c) Visualization of the mirror movements.
(d) Illustration of emitter and receiver path for biaxial sensor concept with two MEMS mirrors.
(e) Overlap in far field for this biaxial sensor concept.

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

(a) (b)

Fig. 21 Plot of possible a Lissajous pattern from a scanner that utilizes two oscillating MEMS
mirrors. (a) Lissajous scan pattern with constant f rep . (b) Evenly spaced (in the horizontal direction)
scan pattern on a Lissajous curve.

112: light source

114: light deflector
116: sensor
216: asymmetrical deflector

(b)

(a)

2D MEMS mirror

(c) (d)

Fig. 22 Display of a sensor concept with 2D MEMS mirror scanner. (a) Sketch of a LiDAR concept
with a single MEMS mirror scanner and four parallel coaxial, analog TOF channels (from published
patent application Ref. 70). (b) Scan pattern illustration of a 2D MEMS mirror with four measure-
ment channels. (c) Visualization of the MEMS mirror movement. (d) Illustration of four coaxial
emitter and receiver paths scanned by a single 2D MEMS.

Figure 22, with drawings from published patent application Ref. 70, illustrates a sensor
concept incorporating four coaxial measurement channels all scanned by a single 2D
MEMS mirror [see Fig. 22(a)]. The mirror has a slow vertical and fast horizontal axis. A cor-
responding scan pattern can be seen in Fig. 22(b). The rows of this scan pattern are curved since
the optical paths of each coaxial measurement channel are off axis with respect to the mirror’s
scanning axis. For demonstration purposes we assumed instant switching from one row to the
next which, in reality, is dependent on the slow scanning axis. Hence, the rows are bent up and
down toward the horizontal turning points. Other than in the concept of Fig. 20, here Ade [from
Eq. (1)] is equal to the mirror size as depicted in the concept basics illustrations of Figs. 22(c)
and 22(d).

4.1.2 Centimeter-scale mirrors

Sensor concepts with larger MEMS mirrors, allowing for an increased Ade , can also be found in
the automotive LiDAR industry. One such concept is shown in Fig. 23. Its mirrors have a
smaller resonance frequency due to their size, and scan a coaxial, analog TOF measurement

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 23 Visualization of a sensor concept with a scanner utilizing centimeter-scale MEMS mirrors.
(a) Illustration of a coaxial measurement channel from Ref. 71. (b) Drawing of scanner with two
centimeter-sized MEMS mirrors from published patent application Ref. 72. (c) Scan pattern of
two independent MEMS mirrors. (d) Conceptual display of a sensor with coaxial measurement
channel.

channel, as shown in Fig. 23(a). The scanner design differs from other MEMS mirror concepts
in the sense that the mirror itself is not embedded in its peripherals [see, e.g., Fig. 20(b)] but
rather mounted on a spring-like arm as can be seen in Fig. 23(b). Since both mirrors can have
different scanning frequencies, a combination of slow and fast scanning axis are possible to
generate a scan pattern as displayed in Fig. 23(c). A conceptual representation of the sensor
is visualized in Fig. 23(d).
Another large MEMS mirror design is depicted in Fig. 24 with drawings from published
patent application Ref. 73. The size of the mirrors allow for multiple (e.g., four) measurement
channels to be scanned at once, effectively increasing frame rate. An illustration of the emitter
side is shown in Fig. 24(a) with a close-up of one of the mirrors in Fig. 24(b). Note how this
concept utilizes biaxial measurement channels where both emitter and receiver beams are
scanned by separated mirrors as shown in Figs. 24(c) and 24(d). Such a scanner requires accurate
synchronization of the mirror oscillations to guarantee the overlap of emitter and receiver FOVs
at every scan angle. Due to individually controllable horizontal and vertical oscillations, an oval
scan pattern as shown in Fig. 23(c) can be realized.
Similar types of mirrors can also be seen in conjunction with FMCW measurement channels.
An example is shown in Fig. 25 with drawings from published patent application Ref. 74.
Figure 25(a) shows a conceptual view on a system combining large MEMS mirrors with
FMCW measurement channels. Higher tmc;fmcw and the ability to realize precise controlling favor
a implementation of larger, 2D quasi-static mirrors [see Fig. 25(b)] over smaller MEMS mirrors
with high scanning frequency f mems.

4.2 Oscillating Carrier

In previous sections we introduced sensor concepts that utilize additional scanning components to
deflect their optical paths. The oscillating carrier principle is based on relative movement between

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

810: mirror
820: MEMS device
840: conductive coil

410: laser light source

432 + 442: mirror

(a) (b)

Synced 1D MEMS
mirrors ver.

Synced 1D MEMS
mirrors hor.

(c) (d)

Fig. 24 Visualization of a sensor concept with two synchronized mirrors. (a) Emitter side sketch of
a biaxial MEMS mirror LiDAR concept with four measurement channels (receiver paths are
scanned similarly), from Ref. 73. (b) Drawing of a MEMS mirror from Ref. 73. (c) Illustration of
the MEMS mirror movements. (d) Depiction of biaxial emitter and receiver paths scanned by four
1D MEMS mirrors.

235: FMCW signalnal

255: ball lens
yer
256: light conveyer
ng device
257: beam steering
(a) (b)

Fig. 25 Illustration of an FMCW measurement channel scanned by a combination of MEMS mirror

and ball lens. (a) Display of FMCW sensor concept with MEMS scanner from Ref. 74. (b) Drawing
of scanner with 2D MEMS mirror (Ref. 74).

optics and their emitter/receivers as shown in Fig. 26. The drawings of published patent appli-
cation Ref. 75 in Figs. 26(a) and 26(b) reveal mounts with springs that are operated in the elastic
regime of their stress-strain curve and can be pulled toward or pushed away from each other. The
movement is indicated by the arrows in Fig. 26(a) as well as Fig. 26(c). The concept utilizes
biaxial, analog TOF measurement channels. Other than in the concept of Fig. 24 where a syn-
chronization of emitter and receiver FOVs was realized by controlling both MEMS mirrors, here
the synchronization is achieved mechanically by mounting emitter and receiver on a rigid plate
that moves both of them together. The resulting scan pattern consists of parallelized Lissajous
curves76 drawn (exemplary for four measurement channels) in Fig. 27. A constant pulse repetition

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

310: fixed frame 360: laser sources

322: flexure 370: photodetectors 2110: lens
342: lens 382: actuator 2130: surface-emitting laser
352: second flexure 384: second actuator 2140: photodetectors
(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 26 Sensor concept based on oscillating optics and transceiver plate. (a) Display of spring-like
mounts of optics and emitter plus receiver carrier board from Ref. 75. (b) Illustration of carrier board
with array of emitters and receivers (Ref. 75). (c) Visualization of the basic movements.
(d) Conceptual display of four emitter and receiver channels.

(a) (b)

Fig. 27 Scan pattern depiction of a sensor concept with an oscillating carrier. (a) Scan pattern
plotted with constant f rep . (b) Evenly spaced scan pattern (horizontal).

rate yields a scan pattern shown in Fig. 27(a) whereas a synchronized emission of pulses can lead
to evenly spaced measurements, e.g., in horizontal direction as indicated in Fig. 27(b).

4.3 Binary MEMS Mirror Arrays

As a last semi solid-state concept we also want to introduce a sensor design that utilizes small
binary MEMS mirror arrays. The mirrors are called binary, because they only have two states.
Either voltage applied or not. They can act as light selectors, e.g., in the receiver path of the
concept from published patent application Ref. 77 shown in Fig. 28. As can be seen in Fig. 28(a),
the MEMS mirror array is positioned as a focal plane array (FPA) (more on FPAs in Sec. 5.1.1)
so that specific angles can be selected by applying a voltage to the corresponding binary mirror.

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

14: prism
15: MEMS device
6: deflection device
7: light deflection elements
Binary MEMS
mirror array

2D MEMS mirror

(a) (b)

Fig. 28 Display of a biaxial sensor concept with 2D MEMS mirror and binary MEMS mirror
array. (a) Illustration of a sensor concept with binary MEMS mirror array in the receiver path
(from Ref. 77). (b) A visualization of the basics from Fig. 28(a).

On the emitter side, a 2D MEMS mirror is used to scan the outgoing pulses into a selected angle
as outlined in Fig. 28(b). The scan pattern is linked to the control of the MEMS mirror array in
combination with the 2D MEMS mirror on the emitter side. It can, in principle, be chosen arbi-
trarily, e.g., as shown in Fig. 13(c). A different implementation of a MEMS mirror array in a TOF
LiDAR is described in Ref. 78.

5 Solid-State Sensors
Solid-state sensors do not have any moving parts. This results in more robustness, the potential to
highly integrate components but also impose the challenge of FOV coverage without rotation,
actuation or oscillation. We divide the concepts into flashing (Sec. 5.1) and solid-state scanning
LiDAR concepts (Sec. 5.2).

5.1 Flash Illumination

A sensor is called a flash LiDAR when it has static beam paths, meaning there is no component
or device in the paths that deflects light into varying directions (cf., Fig. 8). In this work, we
distinguish between full and sequential flash LiDARs.

5.1.1 Full
Full flash LiDARs emit a single flash of light to illuminate their entire FOV at once. These solid-
state concepts require highly energetic pulses to not suffer from photon starvation, i.e., short
measurement ranges. Therefore, the concept shown in Fig. 29 is operated in the SWIR wave-
length regime (allowing for more optical output power cf., Sec. 2.3). The drawing of published
patent application Ref. 79 in Fig. 29(a) shows a flash emitter, namely the solid-state laser,
which is pumped by multiple pump lasers. The corresponding concept basics are illustrated in
Fig. 29(b) with the flash emitter and an FPA detector. Figure 29(c) displays a close-up of the FPA
detector with its mount, whereas Fig. 29(d) shows the overlap in the far field.
An FPA is located in the focal point of its lens with individual receivers that are offset from
the optical axis. There are physical limits to the FOV an FPA can cover, which we want to outline
here (following Ref. 80). Figure 30 shows a schematical view on an FPA with size Sdetector , its
lens of diameter Dlens and focal length f. The angle α is equal to two times the FOV that can be
covered i.e. 2α ¼ FOV. It is given as

Sdetector
EQ-TARGET;temp:intralink-;e003;116;101 tanðαÞ ¼ ; (3)
2f

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

216: diffractive array

218: lens element
224: pump laser
226: solid state laser
228: circular openings

FPA detector

(a) (b)
64: integrated circuit
66: detector array
268: lens elements

(c) (d)

Fig. 29 Illustration of a flash LiDAR concept from Ref. 79 with SWIR operating wavelength and
analog TOF measurement channels. (a) Drawings of a flash LiDAR concept. Top and side view
from Ref. 79. (b) Illustration of the concept basics from a full flash LiDAR (only four detector paths
drawn). (c) Drawing of a detector FPA (Ref. 79). (d) Display of the overlap for a flash LiDAR in the far
field.

Fig. 30 Sketch of an FPA with focal length f and lens diameter D lens .

and poses a constraint to the ratio between Sdetector and f. Another constraint, the f-number F,
originates from lens design and is defined as f divided by Dlens. There is a theoretical lower limit
of F ¼ Dflens ≥ 0.5. Manufacturable lenses typically have an f-number not smaller than F ≈ 1.
This implies that f and Dlens are at most equal, i.e., Dflens ≈ 1 (in many cases f is longer than Dlens
and F > 1). If we insert f ≈ Dlens into Eq. (3), we find that FOV ¼ 2α and Dlens are inversely
proportional to each other, tanðαÞ ¼ S2D
detector
lens
. Hence, for a given FPA detector array of size Sdetector
one can only increase the FOV by reducing Dlens . However, Dlens is equal to Ade from Eq. (1),
which in turn is directly proportional to the received power Prec. The result are contradicting
requests. On the one hand, one would like to enhance Dlens (Ade ) for long measurement ranges

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

(which comes at the cost of reducing FOV ¼ 2α), on the other hand, the FOV is desired to be
as large as possible (requiring smaller Dlens ). For a sensor utilizing a detector FPA a trade-off
between size of Dlens and FOV coverage has to be made.
A flash LiDAR can achieve high frame rate, f since all measurement channels are active in
parallel. However, data processing can become challenging for the same reason.

5.1.2 Sequential
The sequential flash LiDAR concept (shown in Fig. 31) has a one-to-one correlation of emitters
and receivers. Both emitter and receiver FPAs have identical physical dimensions and are opti-
cally aligned to each other to form multiple digital TOF measurement channels. The parallel
measurement channels are shown in Fig. 31(a) with a drawing from published patent application
Ref. 81 and additionally visualized in the conceptual view of Fig. 31(c). Figure 31(b) shows a
compact integration of all components into a LiDAR module. Comparing the overlap indication
from Fig. 31(d) to the overlap of a full flash LiDAR in Fig. 29(d), one can see that a one-to-one
correlation between emitters and receivers has the potential to reduce the number of photons lost
in the gaps between receiver FOVs. This concept is not called a full flash but a “sequential flash”
LiDAR since scanning is achieved by electronically activating lines in both arrays one after the
other, see Fig. 31(e). The use of digital TOF (cf., Sec. 2.2.2) measurement channels imposes
challenging time constraints but also allows for the implementation of multiple thousands
of them.

5.2 Scanning Mechanisms

In this section, we introduce various solid-state scanning mechanisms. Some of them are part of
automotive LiDAR sensor concepts while others are still in an early research state. Common to

62: receiver array

64: emitter array
66: receiver lens
70: emitter lens

12: receiving unit

14: transmitting unit
22: emitter elements
24: laser light
26: sensor elements

(a)

(b)

FPA emitter

FPA detector
(c)
(d) (e)

Fig. 31 Display of a sequential flash LiDAR concept. Drawings taken from Ref. 81 and 82. (a) Top
view of sequential flash LiDAR from Ref. 81. (b) Design of a sequential flash LiDAR module
(Ref. 82). (c) Visualization of LiDAR concept with emitter and receiver FPAs (only four measure-
ment paths drawn). (d) Plot of overlap for a sequential flash LiDAR in the far field. (e) Illustration of
a line-wise scan pattern.

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

all ideas is to manipulate light (its wavelength, phase, intensity, polarization, etc.) in such a way
that the interfering waves can be steered into different angles. Many focus on the emitter side of
measurement channels since the light wave as well as the properties of photons can be easier
controlled during emission. An implementation on the receiver side where the collection of
back-scattered light with undefined polarization states requires large apertures is much more
demanding.

5.2.1 Optical phased arrays

A solid-state scanning mechanism can be realized using OPAs.83,84 They are typically built out of
a number of waveguides each capable of introducing phase delay to the light wave that passes
through them. Figure 32 shows schematically how interfering light from waveguides with vary-
ing phase can be used to steer a beam. Published patent application Ref. 85 describes a sensor
concept utilizing OPAs. Some of the drawings are shown in Fig. 33. Figure 33(a) shows a sensor
design next to the concept view of Fig. 33(b). Figures 33(c) and 33(d) show OPA structures.
There are three main ways of manipulating the lights phase in waveguides by applying
temperature,87–91 voltage92 or structural changes.93,94 In principle arbitrary scan pattern can be
chosen with an OPA scanner but the FOV coverage of the FPA detector and its controlling have
to be taken into consideration. Other 2D scanning demonstrators can be found in Refs. 95–99.
Further ideas how to realize an OPA scanning mechanism are mentioned in Sec. 6.

5.2.2 Liquid crystals

Liquid crystals (LCs) have the ability to change their optical properties, e.g., by applying
voltage. They have been in use for decades as spatial light modulators (SLMs) integrated in,
for example, overhead projectors. However, SLMs tend to have low resolution and switching
speeds.100 Modern LCs circumvent these shortcomings101 which makes them more attractive
in an automotive use-case as demonstrated by the following two scanning concepts.
Published patent application Ref. 102 introduces a sensor concept (depicted in Fig. 34)
that integrates a scanner with LC structures operated in conjunction with polarized light.
Figures 34(a) and 34(b) show multiple biaxial measurement channels that are scanned together
by a liquid crystal polarization grating (LCPG) beam steering element. On a finer scale a detector
line is used to enhance the number of vertical points while all emitters are also scanned by a one-
dimensional (1D) MEMS mirror. A more detailed view on an LC polarization grating (PG)
element is shown in Fig. 34(c).

Constructive interference

Waveguides

Phase delay

Fig. 32 Illustration of how to steer a beam by manipulating the phase in waveguides. There is a
constant shift from one waveguide to the other which results in a beam deflection toward the
bottom.

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

20: OPA-comprising transmitter

30: receiver
40: processor
50: printed circuit boards

FPA detector

OPA

(a) (b)

10: laser
20: Y-branch tree
30: interference couplers
40: ohmic heating electrodes
120: out-of-plane optical couplers

(c) (d)

Fig. 33 Illustration of a solid-state sensor concept with an emitter scanned by an OPA and an FPA
detector. (a) Drawing of a sensor design incorporating an OPA (from Ref. 86). (b) Concept view
explaining the sensor drawing of Fig. 33(a). (c) Depiction of an OPA setup.85 (d) Schematical illus-
tration of an OPA structure.85

LCs can also be used in combination with metasurfaces103–105 that consist of arrays of two
dimensional quasi-periodic sub-wavelength-scale unit elements, so called meta-atoms (metallic
or dielectric). By changing the meta-atoms geometrically in size, shape or orientation across the
surface, one can locally modify the phase of the incoming light to shape the wavefront. There are
many different options to steer the light with meta materials as outline in Ref. 106. An example
concept with scanning emitter and receiver that combines copper rails with LC layers in between
can be found in published patent application Ref. 107 and is shown in Fig. 35. Here, two in-
dependent scanners are foreseen for a biaxial emitter and receiver configuration. It is a point-wise
scanning sensor as indicated in Figs. 35(a) and 35(b) allowing for basically arbitrary scan pat-
tern. Close ups of the so-called metasurface scanner can be found in Fig. 35(c) (the entire scan-
ner) as well as its structure in Fig. 35(d).

5.2.3 Spectral deflection

Last but not least we also want to shortly introduce spectral deflection which is solely based
on wavelength dependent refraction angles known from prisms. A LiDAR concept employing
spectral deflection is described in Ref. 108 and shown in Fig. 36. The idea to realize different
scanning angles by tuning the emitter wavelength is outlined in the system view of Fig. 36(a).
It allows for a one parameter, i.e., 1D scanning mechanism without any moving parts in, e.g.,
horizontal direction.
To also scan in a second (vertical) direction one can either add a galvano scanner [indicated
in Fig. 36(c)] or, as Ref. 108 describes, use the sophisticated lens arrangement from Fig. 36(b)
to enable scanning in 2D by only tuning wavelength. The resulting scan pattern is drawn in
Fig. 36(d). Although the receivers FOV is opened by the angularly dispersive element, only
photons with matching wavelengths (signal and background) are received since other photons
from a different angle (and with a different wavelength) do not deflect back onto the detector.

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

(a)
201: polarized light
: steering stages
501: view : heating layers
504: associated optics
505: 1D resonant MEMS mirror
506: LCPG beam steering element
508: optical receiver

(b)
(c)

Fig. 34 Illustration of a sensor concept utilizing LCs in combination with polarized light. (a) Block
diagram of a senor concept from Ref. 102 utilizing LCs. (b) Sketch of a sensor concept that
extends its FOV by utilizing an LCPG beam steering element (Ref. 102). (c) Model of a scanner
combining LCs and PGs.102

6 Discussion
In this section, we want to revisit the introduced concepts (grouped by section and subsection
headlines) and discuss their advantages and challenges.
The FOV coverage axis of the automotive LiDAR design space from Fig. 2 served as a guide-
line for the introduction of sensor concepts. The chosen order from classical/mechanical scan-
ning systems over MEMS-based solutions to solid-state approaches also represents (in first
approximation) their technology readiness level (TRL). Scanning solutions based on well estab-
lished motors generally have the highest maturity. They are relatively simple to use and enable a
wide FOV coverage. However, car maker requirements regarding durability and cost efficiency
(mass-producibility) raise the need for alternative scanning approaches. One of the biggest chal-
lenges for these new approaches is providing enough FOV coverage while being (semi) solid-
state. MEMS-based concepts described in Sec. 4 try to avoid the negative aspects of mechanical
scanning systems, such as friction and abrasion while keeping the benefit of moving parts to
scan. Aspects like their long term durability and performance stability over the automotive tem-
perature range (cf., Table 1) are fields of ongoing work. Although solid-state sensors have the
potential to be highly integrated, with less components in the bill of material and automatic
assembly lines, they–as of today–often lack performance when compared to classical
(i.e., mechanical) or MEMS scanning LiDARs.
The spinning LiDAR concepts from Figs. 10 and 17 are probably the most known repre-
sentatives of automotive LiDAR sensors. Their unique capability of being able to cover
FOVhor ¼ 360 deg makes them especially interesting for applications where complete surround
perception is of predominant importance. However, they cannot be as seamlessly integrated into

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

204: optics
206: laser diode
207: receive sensor
210: trans. metasurface
215: rec. metasurface

Metasurfaces

(a) (b)
100: metasurface
125: optical radiation
126: “reflected optical radiation”
420: dielectric material
150: optical resonant antennas
430: copper antenna rails
440: insulator

(c) (d)

Fig. 35 Display of a sensor concept that includes a meta surface scanning mechanism.
(a) Depiction of sensors schematics (Ref. 107). (b) Conceptual view of a sensor design with meta-
surfaces. (c) Illustration of the meta surface working principle from Ref. 107. (d) Close-up on the
metasurfaces structure.107

e.g. the bumper of a car as the rotating mirror concept from Fig. 11. We divided TOF meas-
urement channels in Sec. 3 into mechanical scanning concepts with analog TOF (Sec. 3.1) and
digital TOF (Sec. 3.2) utilizing either NIR or SWIR operating wavelengths. An analog TOF
channel in the NIR typically consist of an edge-emitting laser (EEL) in combination with an
APD (for explanations on the working principle of these components see, e.g., Refs. 3 and
31). Both are mature components, cost efficient and extensively in use for decades. Higher opti-
cal output power within eye safety limits (cf., Sec. 2.3) motivate a switch to SWIR wavelengths
(concept from Fig. 12). Emitters that generate such high optical output power typically utilize
fiber lasers. The choice between NIR EEL and SWIR fiber lasers can be summarized in a sim-
plified way as a trade-off between cost efficiency and performance. Moving away from silicon as
detector material to, e.g., InGaAs (for SWIR wavelength) comes at the cost of higher component
prices as well as noisier detectors (cf., Sec. 2.3). For analog TOF with APD detectors this results
in a tolerable increase in dark current, but in digital TOF noisier detectors usually necessitate a
change in the TCSPC measurement procedure. InGaAs SPADs tend to have higher dark count
rates and afterpulsing which cause unwanted triggers during the acquisition of histograms. A
possible counter measure to mitigate these negative effects are gating schemes as presented in
Ref. 109 for the concept from Fig. 17(d).
FMCW measurement channels with their ability to measure relative velocity provide an
additional feature that can be of important help when it comes to the segmentation of point
clouds with perception algorithms. Another benefit is the possible optical signal amplification
by enhancing the power of the portion of the outgoing that is optically mixed with the incoming

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

305: three-port element

308: angularly dispersive element

(a) (b)

Tunable light source

Angular dispersive
element
Galvano scanner
(c) (d)

Fig. 36 Spectral deflection scanning with lens arrangement and scan pattern. (a) Conceptual dia-
gram for a spectral deflection LiDAR (Ref. 108). (b) Drawing of lens arrangement for 2D spectral
deflection scanning.108 (c) Sensor concept view utilizing prism scanning. (d) Achievable scan pat-
tern sketch with lens arrangement from Ref. 108.

light (cf., Fig. 9). It is, however, challenging to parallelize multiple FMCW measurement chan-
nels which makes wide FOV coverage at a frame rate of f ¼ 25 Hz and a high angular resolution
difficult. Many of the sensor concepts currently available utilize polygon scanners as illustrated
in Figs. 18 and 19. FMCW channels are also more complex (e.g., number of components Fig. 9
compared to Fig. 8) and prone to misalignment or phase noise as well as shot noise on the emitter
side. The use of photonic integrated circuits (PIC) has the potential to overcome these
challenges110,111 but additional work on, e.g., compact integration is required. We, therefore,
see many research activities in this field.
The summary table displayed in Table 2 rates aspects like cost, FOV coverage, size/power,
TRL and durability of concept groups against the requirements listed in Table 1. Qualitative
ratings range from “+” over “○” to “−” and indicate how we see the agreement between merits
of a concept group and desired specifications. In short, classical/mechanical scanners provide
mature options to have flexible scan pattern (adaptive scan angles, e.g., Fig. 13 or rotation
speeds, e.g., Fig. 15) with large apertures [Ade in Eq. (1)]. Durability, size and cost efficiency

Table 2 Summary of merits and disadvantages for different groups of

concepts.

FOV Size/
Cost coverage power TRL Durability

Classical scanning − + − + ○

MEMS mirror (mm-scale) ○ ○ + ○ +

MEMS mirror (cm-scale) ○ + ○ ○ ○

Flash illumination + − + ○ +

Solid-state scanning + ○ ○ − +

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 Holzhüter et al.: Technical concepts of automotive LiDAR sensors: a review

(mass-producibility) are challenges that push the development of alternative scanning

mechanism.
MEMS concepts serve as a replacement for classical scanning mechanisms with benefits of
no friction as well as semiconductor processes (for smaller mirrors). A combination with digital
TOF (longer tmc ) is challenging due to their high oscillation speeds which is why we see most
MEMS concepts utilizing analog TOF measurement channels. The robustness and stability over
temperature of MEMS mirrors are subjects of ongoing improvements. Especially, for concepts
with larger mirrors as introduced in Sec. 4.1.2. However, these larger mirrors allow for longer
measurement ranges [again linked to Ade in Eq. (1)] and more control over scan patterns.
Looking at solid-state approaches we have to differentiate the statement from above that their
TRL is low in general. Flash LiDAR concepts are already in use and have the capability to bring
down cost by highly integrating all their components. But challenges linked to the emitted opti-
cal power (full flash requires high optical pulses and sequential flash utilizes an array of indi-
vidually addressable vertical-cavity surface emitting laser with limited optical output power)
prevail. Furthermore, both concepts need to tackle the tasks of finding a trade-off between
FOV coverage and measurement range (cf., Sec. 5.1.1) and processing high data rates from their
detector FPAs. In full flash concepts data of an entire frame needs to be stored and processed. In
the sequential flash concept TCSPC histogramming (digital TOF) for multiple channels in par-
allel leads to a few tens of GBs−1 which become challenging to handle.
The solid-state scanning approaches provide elegant ways of scanning without any rotating
parts. Goals for the design of OPAs comprise high-volume/low-loss laser-PIC coupling methods
and effective side lobe suppression (e.g., Ref. 112) while challenges, such as a high number of
electrical contacts for a PIC integration need to be addressed. Nevertheless, ideas on how to
achieve a wide FOV113 or 2D scanning114–116 can already be found in the literature where also
other scanning approaches based on Bragg waveguides117 or photonic crystals118 are discussed.
This section is written to the best knowledge of the authors. We do not claim for this list of
aspects to be indisputable or complete.

7 Conclusion
We presented a visual depiction of the automotive LiDAR design space followed by an intro-
duction to each of the possible options. Different LiDAR concepts were outlined with drawings
from published patent applications which we explained in accompanying figures. We covered
many mechanical scanning techniques that became flagships during first use of automotive
LiDAR sensors. With the push toward higher level autonomous driving functionalities new alter-
native scanning methods emerged. Concepts for automotive solid-state LiDAR promise to fulfill
carmakers requirements while being cost-efficient, robust and compact enough to be integrated
into consumer cars. A field of many ongoing research activities. We presented an overview of
existing and future automotive LiDAR scanning concepts and concluded with a discussion of
their merits and disadvantages. This work provides orientation to the reader and serves as a
starting point for further research in the field of automotive LiDAR sensors.

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Hanno Holzhüter works as a research project manager at Ibeo Automotive Systems and is
also a PhD student with focus on DSP in LiDAR sensors at the Institute for Microelectronic
Systems (IMS), Leibniz University Hannover and Ibeo AS. Before joining Ibeo in 2016, he
worked as a scientific assistant in the engineering education research group at Technical Uni-
versity of Hamburg after finishing his master in 2015 in physics at the Georg-August-University
Göttingen.

Jörn Bödewadt has been working at Ibeo Automotive Systems since 2018 as an optical design
engineer. His tasks range from the investigation of optical effects in LIDAR sensors over sim-
ulation and experiments to specify, test, and analyze optical components. He has a background in
accelerator and free-electron laser physics where he received his PhD in 2011 at the University of
Hamburg. After his PhD, he joined Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron to work on fundamental
research on improving the coherence properties of free-electron lasers.

Shima Bayesteh received her BSc degree in physics in 2006 from the University of Isfahan
and her MSc degree in astrophysics in 2008 from the University of Zanjan in Iran. She completed
her PhD in accelerator physics at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) and received her
degree in accelerator physics in 2014 from the University of Hamburg. She joined Ibeo in 2016
as optics development engineer. She is currently working as LiDAR R&D engineer, dealing with
novel technological solutions for Lidar systems.

Andreas Aschinger received his diploma in physics in 2008 and completed his PhD in plasma
physics in 2012 at the Ruhr-University of Bochum. The topic of the PhD thesis was Dynamic
Light Scattering on Complex Plasmas. After his PhD, he worked at Leopold Kostal GmbH & Co.
KG in the field of driver assistance cameras. Since 2019, he has been dedicated to the develop-
ment of future LiDAR sensors at Ibeo Automotive Systems GmbH.

Holger Blume received his Dipl-Ing and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the
University of Dortmund in 1992 and 1997, respectively. Until 2008, he worked as a senior engi-
neer at RWTH Aachen University. There he finished his habilitation in 2008. Since then he is
professor for architectures and systems at Leibniz University Hannover. His research interests
are in design space exploration for algorithms and architectures for DSP with applications in
biomedical and automotive systems.

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