Photonic integrated circuits drive parallel Laser RADAR performance

Ommatidia LiDAR uses photonic integrated circuits to turn parallel optical acquisition into a practical Laser RADAR workflow, helping engineers capture dense, time-coherent surface data at industrial speed.

By Oscar R. Enríquez, Product Specialist, Ommatidia LiDAR

Why parallel optical measurement matters
Laser RADAR and laser vibrometry are valued because they can measure a surface without touching it. They are especially useful when access is difficult, when contact sensors would change the behaviour of the structure, or when many points need to be measured with high accuracy. The remaining challenge has usually been speed. A sequential instrument can move from point to point, but the spatial picture is assembled over time.

That matters in structural testing, industrial diagnostics, modal analysis, product validation, and precision metrology. Real engineering events are often dynamic. A machine is running, a structure is vibrating, a component is deforming under load, or a surface is moving while it is being measured. The faster the instrument captures the spatial field, the more directly the data represents the event itself.

Ommatidia LiDAR addresses this with a massively parallel Laser RADAR architecture based on photonic integrated circuits. Instead of observing one location after another, the system can acquire many optical channels simultaneously. Depending on configuration, Ommatidia systems measure up to 128 channels at the same time.

Figure 1: PIC-enabled massively parallel Laser RADAR concept image used in Ommatidia’s original article. Credit: Ommatidia LiDAR.

The gain is substantial. For an equivalent set of measurement points, parallel acquisition can reduce the time needed to capture the spatial field by roughly two orders of magnitude compared with point-by-point measurement. That speed advantage can be used in two complementary ways: to capture the same area much faster, or to increase spatial resolution within the same measurement window.

Higher spatial resolution changes the quality of the result. Engineers can work with a denser description of the surface, rely less on interpolation between sparse points, and detect local behaviour that was not known in advance. That is important in vibration work, but it is equally important in high-accuracy surface metrology, where local shape, displacement, and deformation can carry the information that determines performance.

The PIC as an enabling architecture
Photonic integrated circuits are often associated with smaller, more stable, and more scalable optical systems. In Ommatidia’s platform, the PIC is also what enables the instrument to behave differently. It provides a compact and repeatable route to multi-channel optical processing, allowing the Laser RADAR system to acquire distributed surface information in parallel.

The result is a measurement architecture where integrated photonics is directly visible in the end-system performance:

• Simultaneous acquisition across many optical channels

• Fast measurement of dense spatial fields

• Stronger time coherence between measured points

• Less dependence on interpolation or repeated test runs

• Direct access to local dynamic and metrology information

This moves photonic integration from component advantage to workflow advantage. The PIC helps the instrument observe more of the surface in the same physical moment. That creates a clearer picture of how a structure, machine, or manufactured component behaves under real conditions.

Figure 2: Q2 Laser RADAR front view illustrating the deployed system form factor. Credit: Ommatidia LiDAR.

For dynamic applications, the advantage is immediate. If a structure is excited by wind, impact, rotating machinery, traffic, or a controlled shaker, a parallel instrument can capture the distributed response during the same event. Phase relationships, mode shapes, local hot spots, and transient effects can be interpreted with greater confidence because the points are acquired together rather than reconstructed from a long sequence.

For metrology applications, the same architecture supports fast, high-accuracy direct surface measurement. Dense optical acquisition can reveal local deformation, shape change, vibration, and surface motion without adding targets or contact probes. This extends the platform from vibration analysis into precision inspection and dimensional measurement workflows where accuracy and throughput matter together.

From sparse scans to dense spatial fields
Sequential point measurement has served optical metrology well, and it remains useful for many stable tasks. Parallel Laser RADAR expands the practical operating space by making dense fields easier to capture. When many points are observed at once, the instrument can deliver a spatially richer dataset before the physical state has had time to change.

That shift is especially valuable when the interesting behaviour is local. A crack-adjacent vibration hot spot, a fixture-induced deformation, a localised resonance, a component edge effect, or an unexpected surface-motion pattern may not be visible from a sparse measurement grid. A denser field improves the chance of seeing the behaviour directly.

It also improves the engineering workflow. Sparse scans often require interpolation to estimate what happens between measured points. Interpolation is useful, but it is still an assumption about the unmeasured surface. A parallel system allows teams to increase the number of measured points and reduce the distance between them, so the final result is driven more by direct measurement and less by reconstruction.

This is where the two-order-of-magnitude speed advantage becomes commercially meaningful. Faster acquisition gives engineers the option to spend the saved time on spatial detail. A test that once collected a coarse grid can be turned into a denser map. A field inspection that once focused on a few expected locations can cover more of the asset. A metrology task that once balanced accuracy against throughput can move closer to both.

Figure 3: Laboratory close-up of Ommatidia Laser RADAR hardware. Credit: Ommatidia LiDAR.

Practical Laser RADAR workflow
Ommatidia combines the PIC-enabled channel architecture with coherent detection, FMCW ranging concepts, and non-contact Laser RADAR and LDV workflows. The same platform can support geometric measurement, dynamic measurement, and direct surface observation.

In a practical workflow, the instrument measures surface motion, displacement, or geometry without installing sensors on the target. This reduces preparation time and helps preserve the natural behaviour of the object under test. It also makes the system attractive for large structures, inaccessible components, fragile surfaces, moving machinery, and production environments where contact probing would slow the process down.

The high-channel architecture adds spatial context to that non-contact measurement. Instead of asking only what happened at one location, the user can see how the response is distributed across the measured area or line. In dynamic work, that supports modal analysis, operational diagnostics, and structural monitoring. In metrology work, it supports direct surface measurement, deformation tracking, and high-resolution comparison of measured shape under different states.

The instrument therefore becomes more than a faster scanner. It becomes a way to capture a physical event as a spatial field, with enough density to support confident interpretation and enough speed to keep pace with changing conditions.

Application value across engineering sectors
In structural monitoring, simultaneous optical channels help show how motion is distributed along a bridge, tower, test article, or large mechanical structure. Engineers can identify where the response concentrates, compare repeated campaigns, and use dense data to guide more detailed modelling or inspection.

In industrial diagnostics, parallel acquisition helps reveal local vibration hot spots, coupled behaviour, and unexpected operating patterns. Dense non-contact measurement can be performed without covering a machine in sensors, which is useful when access is limited or when the installation itself would be disruptive.

In modal analysis and validation, the combined gain is more points with stronger time coherence. Mode shapes, phase relationships, and localised behaviour become easier to interpret when the spatial dataset is captured during the same event.

In product development, dense measurement shortens the path from test to design feedback. Engineers can observe how a prototype deforms or vibrates across a surface, compare results with simulation, and refine the design with less dependence on repeated single-point acquisitions.

In precision metrology, the same technology supports high-accuracy direct measurement of surfaces. Fast optical acquisition can capture shape, displacement, and deformation without contact, creating a route to inspecting surfaces under load, monitoring movement during operation, and detecting small local deviations that sparse measurement can miss.

These use cases share a common requirement: useful surface information has to be captured quickly, accurately, and at enough spatial density to show what is really happening. Photonic integration gives the Laser RADAR system a scalable way to meet that requirement.

Integrated photonics as a product advantage
The strongest value of integrated photonics appears when it changes the end product. In Ommatidia’s Laser RADAR platform, the PIC helps convert optical complexity into a usable multi-channel instrument.

That product-level advantage matters commercially. Measurement teams want faster setup, denser data, and clearer insight. Production teams want throughput without losing accuracy. Engineering teams want a better chance of detecting local behaviour before it becomes a failure mode or a missed design issue. Parallel Laser RADAR supports those goals by making dense, time-coherent optical measurement more accessible.

The architecture also creates room for future scaling. As photonic integration continues to mature, multi-channel optical instruments can become more compact, robust, and deployable. The same direction supports higher channel counts, tighter integration, improved stability, and broader adoption of non-contact measurement in industrial environments.

Looking ahead
Massively parallel Laser RADAR shows how PICs can move measurement technology from point-by-point observation toward dense, time-coherent surface sensing. The platform brings together speed, spatial resolution, direct surface measurement, and practical deployment in a single optical workflow.

The two-order-of-magnitude improvement in measurement speed is a central part of that shift. It allows faster capture of dynamic events, higher spatial resolution within the same test time, less interpolation between points, and better detection of unknown local behaviour. For many engineering and metrology tasks, that combination is more valuable than any single specification on its own.

As industries demand faster inspection, better structural understanding, and more direct measurement of real surfaces under real conditions, parallel optical architectures will become increasingly important. Ommatidia’s approach demonstrates how photonic integrated circuits can provide the foundation for that next generation of high-density, non-contact measurement systems.