Restraint of range walk error in a Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode lidar to acquire high-precision depth and intensity information

There exists a range walk error in a Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode (Gm-APD) lidar because of the fluctuation in the number of signal photoelectrons. To restrain this range walk error, we propose a new returning-wave signal processing technique based on the Poisson probability response model and the Gaussian functions fitting method. High-precision depth and intensity information of the target at the distance of 5 m is obtained by a Gm-APD lidar using a 6 ns wide pulsed laser. The experiment results show that the range and intensity precisions are 1.2 cm and 0.015 photoelectrons, respectively.