MIT researchers have developed a new silicon-photonics chip design that could make lidar systems smaller, tougher, and more accurate. The advance targets a long-standing weakness in chip-based lidar systems: narrow field-of-view limitations caused by signal interference between optical antennas.

Lidar systems help autonomous vehicles detect obstacles and map surroundings using pulses of infrared light. But current systems remain expensive and mechanically complex. Many rely on moving parts that wear down over time, making them harder to scale for wider commercial use across transportation and industrial sectors.

Wider scanning angles

Researchers at MIT designed an integrated antenna array that reduces unwanted crosstalk between antennas on a silicon-photonics chip. That improvement allows the lidar system to scan a wider field of view while maintaining low-noise performance.

Silicon-photonics technology uses light instead of electrical signals to process information. Engineers see it as a promising path toward compact lidar systems because it can shrink optical hardware onto semiconductor chips.

However, previous silicon-photonics lidar designs struggled to scan peripheral angles effectively. Existing methods to widen the viewing area often introduced extra noise and reduced measurement precision.

The MIT team tackled that issue by redesigning how the antennas interact on the chip. Their approach suppresses interference that normally disrupts signal quality during wide-angle scanning.

The researchers believe the advance could support next-generation lidar systems for autonomous driving, aerial mapping, and industrial monitoring.

Eliminating moving parts

Traditional lidar sensors often use rotating mirrors or mechanical scanning systems to direct laser beams. Those moving parts increase cost and reduce long-term durability.

Solid-state lidar systems avoid that problem because they contain no moving components. Silicon-photonics chips offer a way to build those systems in a compact semiconductor package.

The new MIT design pushes that concept further by improving both scanning capability and signal clarity at the same time.

Researchers say this could help engineers develop lidar sensors that are smaller and easier to integrate into vehicles, drones, and surveying equipment.

The technology may also improve performance in demanding environments where reliability matters. Construction monitoring and aerial surveying operations often require precise sensing over large areas.

Future lidar performance

The study highlights growing interest in optical phased arrays, which steer light electronically instead of mechanically. Engineers consider them a critical technology for future lidar systems because they can rapidly direct laser beams without physical movement.

But optical phased arrays have faced major limitations in the field of view and signal quality. MIT’s new antenna-array architecture aims to overcome those bottlenecks while preserving the accuracy required for advanced navigation systems.

“The functionality we demonstrated in this work solves a fundamental problem for integrated optical-phased-array technology, enabling future lidar sensors that can achieve significantly higher performance than we could demonstrate previously,” says Jelena Notaros, the Robert J. Shillman Career Development Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and senior author of the study.