Pile-up effect in an infrared single-pixel compressive LiDAR system

Compressive sensing (CS) has been used in LiDAR systems utilizing one single-photon-counting avalanche diode. We demonstrate an unexpected grayscale inversed image of an object at an unchosen depth, which appears in the reconstruction of the infrared single-pixel LiDAR system due to the pile-up effect. A correction algorithm and the sparse measurement are proposed and experimentally verified to effectively reduce the photon pile-up influence, so that the negative images can be completely removed. The correction methods in this research can improve the accuracy and the flexibility of the single-pixel LiDAR systems employing detectors with a low maximum light count.