Patent attributes
A LiDAR apparatus includes a first substrate and a unitary optical element mounted thereon. The unitary optical element includes: (i) a fast axis collimator (FAC) lens receiving light from a laser diode source and generating therefrom a collimated light beam; (ii) a polarizing beam splitter optically coupled to the FAC lens, at least a portion of the collimated light beam passing through the polarizing beam splitter to a region being observed by the LiDAR apparatus; (iii) an aperture element optically coupled to the polarizing beam splitter; and (iv) an opaque coating formed on a back side of the aperture element, the opaque coating being patterned to provide a transparent aperture. At least of portion of light returning to the LiDAR apparatus from the region being observed is directed by the polarizing beam splitter, through the transparent aperture in the opaque coating on the aperture element, to an optical detector.
