Underwater three-dimensional imaging with an amplitude-modulated laser radar at a 405 nm wavelength

We report the results of underwater imaging with an amplitude-modulated single-mode laser beam and miniaturized piezoactuator-based scanning system. The basic elements of the device are a diode laser source at 405 nm with digital amplitude modulation and a microscanning system realized with a small-aperture aspheric lens mounted on a pair of piezoelectric translators driven by sawtooth waveforms. The system has been designed to be a low-weight and rugged imaging device suitable to operate at medium range (approximately 10 m) in clear seawater as also demonstrated by computer simulation of layout performance. In the controlled laboratory conditions a submillimeter range accuracy has been obtained at a laser amplitude modulation frequency of 36.7 MHz.