Devices that move and operate in physical space need sensors to read their environment. One such sensing technology, LiDAR, has many potential applications, but is often too large or too expensive to be a viable choice. Now, a team of researchers at University of Washington has developed a much smaller and less costly form of LiDAR that has no moving parts, a breakthrough that could soon be a real game-changer for many technologies. LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a 3D laser imaging technology that has been around for over half a century. Like radar, which is an analogous sound-based means of sensing, LiDAR scans across an area and the reflected signal is then received and interpreted. In the past, these laser-based systems have required moving parts — a factor that adds weight, complexity, durability, and expense. Now, in a research study recently published in the journal Nature, a UW ECE (Electrical and Computer Engineering) research team developed a way to use quantum effects to create LiDAR on a chip — a lightweight approach that needs no moving parts. “We have invented a completely new type of laser beam-steering device without any moving parts for scanning LiDAR systems and integrated it into a computer chip,” said Mo Li, a UW ECE and physics professor who leads the research team. “This new technology uses sound running on the surface of the chip to steer a scanning laser into free space. It can detect and image objects in three dimensions from over 100 meters away.” Li compares the LiDAR to a searchlight moving back and forth across an area. The enormous difference with this LiDAR on a chip is the laser beam it emits can be bent using quantum effects. Safe for eyes, the beam passes just barely above the surface of the chip. At the same time, an interdigital transducer (IDT) is used to excite acoustic waves on the chip. The generated vibrations “steer” the beam back and forth, according to their frequencies, with the movement occurring either continuously or in steps. The beam subsequently reflects off objects in the environment, returning to the LiDAR where a detector receives the beam. Software then interprets the information, building up an image of the reflected object.