Phase-multiplied interferometry via cavity dynamics for resolution-enhanced coherent ranging

Yifan Wang; Jinsong Liu; Chenxiao Lin; Xin Xu; Yu Wang; Xinhang Yang; Binbin Xie; Jibo Han; Tengfei Wu; Xuling Lin; Liangcai Cao; Hongbo Sun; Yidong Tan

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-02160-x

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Phase-multiplied interferometry via cavity dynamics for resolution-enhanced coherent ranging

Original Articles

- Phase-multiplied interferometry via cavity dynamics for resolution-enhanced coherent ranging
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 3, Pages: 754-765(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
  2.National Key Laboratory of Metrology and Calibration, Beijing Changcheng Institute of Metrology & Measurement, Beijing, China
  3.Beijing Institute of Space Mechanics and Electricity, Beijing, China
- Author bio：
  
  Yidong Tan (Tanyd@tsinghua.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-02160-x
  CLC：
- Received：01 September 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-12-02，
  
  Accepted：03 December 2025，
  
  Online First：12 January 2026，
  
  Published：31 March 2026
- Accepted：
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Wang, Y. F., Liu, J. S., Lin, C. X. et al. Phase-multiplied interferometry via cavity dynamics for resolution-enhanced coherent ranging. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 754-765 (2026).
DOI：

Wang, Y. F., Liu, J. S., Lin, C. X. et al. Phase-multiplied interferometry via cavity dynamics for resolution-enhanced coherent ranging. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 754-765 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02160-x.

摘要

Abstract

Coherent light detection and ranging (LiDAR) has become an indispensable tool in autonomous systems

offering exceptional precision and ambient-light immunity. Recently

applications spanning from scientific research to advanced manufacturing have increasingly required resolution that exceeds current capabilities

which faces a fundamental trade-off between improved performance and system complexity. In this study

we overcome the intrinsic limitation and present a cavity dynamics-enabled approach that actively enhances the ranging resolution through phase multiplication. By injecting target-scattered light into the optical resonator

the operating frequency of the laser undergoes periodic modulation

generating interference harmonics that multiply the phase sensitivity. Experimentally

we observe the excitation of up to the 13th-order harmonic and effective phase multiplication without physical modulation extensions

which enables more than 10 times resolution enhancement for ranging. Owing to the intrinsic phase correlation between the fundamental wave and harmonic waves

the phase noise is effectively controlled

resulting in high-precision ranging with a standard deviation on the order of tens of micrometers. The system concurrently leverages laser feedback sensitivity

achieving significant signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement. With its enhanced resolution

low photon consumption

and low-cost implementation

this technology demonstrates new capabilities that promise to enable a wide range of applications.

关键词

Keywords

references

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