Enhancement in LiDAR SNR using Non-Classical Light

Sensing modalities and instrumentation for target detection and raging applications have received tremendous attention over the past decade. This has been driven in no small part by the unsatiable demand for cheaper, more compact and significantly improved Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), which is essential for autonomous navigation. The detection of objects in the presence of significant background noise is a problem of fundamental interest in sensing. In this talk I aim to demonstrate theoretically and experimentally how one can exploit non-classical light generated in monolithic semiconductor light sources in conjunction with non-local effects to enhance the performance of optical target detection and model LiDAR system.

Speaker Bio:

Amr Helmy is a Professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Toronto. Prior to his academic career, he held a position at Agilent Technologies, R&D division, in the UK between 2000 and 2004. At Agilent his responsibilities included developing InP-based photonic semiconductor integrated circuits and high-powered submarine-class 980 nm pump lasers. He received his Ph.D. and M.Sc. from the University of Glasgow with a focus on photonic devices and fabrication technologies, in 1999 and 1995 respectively. He received his B.Sc. from Cairo University in 1993, in electronics and telecommunications engineering science. His research interests include photonic device physics and characterization techniques, with emphasis on nonlinear optics in III-V semiconductors; applied optical spectroscopy in III-V optoelectronic devices and materials; III-V fabrication and monolithic integration techniques. Amr has served the community in numerous roles. He has served as Vice President Membership for the IEEE Photonics Society (2008-2010). He has also served as the CLEO Conference Chair (2018-2020), and IEEE- IPC Conference Chair for 2016-2018. He has served as an associate editor for the IEEE Photonics Journal, Optica and Optics Express.