Light detection and ranging (LiDAR), as a hot imaging technology in both industry and academia, has undergone rapid innovation and evolution. The current mainstream direction is towards system miniaturization and integration. There are many metrics that can be used to evaluate the performance of a LiDAR system, such as lateral resolution, ranging accuracy, stability, size, and price. Until recently, with the continuous enrichment of LiDAR application scenarios, the pursuit of imaging speed has attracted tremendous research interest. Particularly, for autonomous vehicles running on motorways or industrial automation applications, the imaging speed of LiDAR systems is a critical bottleneck. In this review, we will focus on discussing the upper speed limit of the LiDAR system. Based on the working mechanism, the limitation of optical parts on the maximum imaging speed is analyzed. The beam scanner has the greatest impact on imaging speed. We provide the working principle of current popular beam scanners used in LiDAR systems and summarize the main constraints on the scanning speed. Especially, we highlight the spectral scanning LiDAR as a new paradigm of ultrafast LiDAR. Additionally, to further improve the imaging speed, we then review the parallel detection methods, which include multiple-detector schemes and multiplexing technologies. Furthermore, we summarize the LiDAR systems with the fastest point acquisition rate reported nowadays. In the outlook, we address the current technical challenges for ultrafast LiDAR systems from different aspects and give a brief analysis of the feasibility of different approaches.

The beam-steering device is a critical component in LiDAR systems for 3D imaging. Solid-state beam-steering devices attract the most attention for their advantages of robustness, fast beam-steering speed, and stability. However, solid-state beam-steering devices, such as optical phased arrays (OPAs), are challenging to realize 2D scanning ability. Here we employed a virtually imaged phased array (VIPA) in the LiDAR system to realize all solid-state two-dimensional (2D) beam-steering based on dispersion only. A frequency swept laser source is used for performing optical frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) ranging and 2D beam steering simultaneously. The 2D disperser is compact and can be easily implemented owing to its simple structure. The mechanism of continuous scanning and ranging is beneficial for obtaining high lateral resolution, and a lateral resolution of 0.06° is achieved. 3D maps of the object at a distance of 2 m are obtained with cm-level ranging precision. The frame rate of the proposed LiDAR system only depends on the wavelength-tuning speed of the swept laser source, with the potential to realize ultrafast solid-state LiDAR systems.

The ray-mapping method has been widely used for designing freeform illumination lenses. However, in non-paraxial or off-axis situations, it remains challenging to obtain an integrable ray-mapping, often requiring a complex iterative correction process for the initial mapping. To address this challenge, we propose an extended ray-mapping method that incorporates differentiable ray-tracing into the design pipeline of the ray-mapping method. This enables accurate surface construction according to ray-mapping and efficient shape correction based on irradiance distribution. The proposed method involves two optimization stages. In the first stage, the freeform surface is preliminarily optimized to closely match the optimal transport mapping. The obtained freeform surface is then further optimized in the second stage to minimize the divergence between the target and simulated irradiance distributions. Additionally, the mean curvature of the freeform surface is also constrained in the second stage to facilitate the fabrication of the final freeform surface. Non-paraxial illumination lenses and off-axis illumination lenses have been designed using the proposed method within ten minutes, and simulations demonstrate that the approach is effective and robust.

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) with scanning beam has been widely used in autonomous driving and large-scale manufacturing, where the fast-changing scene is of great interest. However, the acquisition rate of current LiDAR is limited by beam steering speed and the round-trip delay, hindering the development of video-rate LiDAR. Here, we uniquely combine all-optical encoders with wavelength-division multiplexing devices to implement spectro-temporal encoding on the illumination light. Parallel detection and fast spectral scanning can be achieved with only one laser and one single photodetector. Our result shows the fastest single-pixel LiDAR to date, and the detection speed can be multiplied with scalability. We demonstrate 3.56-fold improvement of speed for a maximum of 75 m detection range compared with a serial LiDAR. A record acquisition rate of 21.38 MHz for a maximum of 25 m detection range is obtained. This approach has the potential to break the limitation on current ultrafast single-pixel LiDAR and opens a new paradigm for ultrafast-frame-rate imaging systems.

Nonmechanical beam-steering devices are of importance to achieve fast, compact, and reliable LiDAR. We propose a 2D nonmechanical beam-steering device based on a virtually imaged phased array (VIPA) for frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) LiDAR. In the design, 2D nonmechanical beam steering and high-resolution FMCW ranging can be achieved at the same time by wavelength tuning. The design formulas of the VIPA-based 2D disperser are greatly simplified by introducing appropriate approximation, and a feasible design procedure is proposed for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Based on the proposed method, several design examples with different optimal properties are exhibited.

Grayscale direct laser writing lithography (DLWL) is a versatile technique for fabricating diffractive optical elements (DOEs), which play a critical role in controlling light across diverse optical applications. However, optical proximity effects (OPEs) during fabrication often lead to discrepancies between the intended design and the actual produced surface, resulting in degraded performance. Here, a fabrication-integrated design (FID) approach is proposed to address this challenge. This approach seamlessly integrates design and fabrication processes to ensure both optical specification and manufacturability. First, this approach models the impact of OPE in DLWL through a highly efficient fabrication simulator, which predicts the DOE surface based on the exposure dose with minimal experimental calibration. Then, a wave optics simulator is employed to evaluate the optical performance of the DOE. Finally, an optimization algorithm iteratively adjusts fabrication parameters to minimize discrepancies between the desired and simulated optical outcomes. The FID approach demonstrates significant improvements in DOE performance. For instance, it achieves more than 25% reduction in unwanted diffraction orders for diffractive beam splitters. Additionally, it improves the quality of digital holograms and the performance of extended depth-of-focus imaging. Our implementation of the FID approach can support the design of very large-scale DOEs with up to 100 million pixels. These results highlight the effectiveness of the FID approach in producing high-quality optical elements, offering broad benefits for applications in imaging, sensing, and display technologies.