Laser Phase Noise Compensation Method Based on Dual Reference Channels in Inverse Synthetic Aperture Lidar

Laser phase noise is a critical factor that limits the range and performance of coherent lidar systems, especially in high-resolution applications such as inverse synthetic aperture lidar (ISAL), which demands stringent coherence. The effective suppression of laser phase noise is essential to enable high-resolution imaging over long distances. This paper presents a phase noise compensation technique utilizing dual reference channels (DRCs) based on concatenated generated phase (CGP) principles. The proposed method uses two reference channels with different delay lengths: a long-delay channel for coarse phase noise compensation and a short-delay channel for fine adjustments. We performed ISAL imaging experiments on stationary and rotating targets using a seed laser with a 3.41 MHz linewidth, achieving round-trip distances exceeding 110 times the laser coherence length. Imaging quality closely matched a 100 Hz narrow linewidth laser, approaching theoretical resolution limits. Compared to prior methods based on residual error linear estimation, the DRC method enhances compensation speed tenfold while maintaining accuracy. These results highlight the efficacy of the proposed DRC method in mitigating laser phase noise, significantly improving ISAL imaging performance.