The CoRaLi-DAR project took center stage at the 2025 IEEE Photonics Society Summer Topicals Series, where project coordinator Tommaso Cassese presented our latest results on the miniaturization of sensing technology.
The presentation, titled “Optical Phased Array Miniaturization through Electro-Photonic Monolithic Integration,” highlighted how the project is moving beyond traditional “plug-in” optics toward a single-chip solution that combines both light and electronics.
Breaking Through the Packaging Bottleneck
Tommaso explained that the future of automotive LiDAR is also about Advanced Packaging. By integrating the electronic drivers directly onto the photonic chip (the EPIC platform), CoRaLi-DAR has achieved:
- Massive Energy Efficiency: Each phase shifter in our system now consumes few mW, including the driver—a significant improvement over state-of-the-art solutions.
- Size Reduction: We have significantly reduced the physical footprint of the system by eliminating bulky external connections.
- Full Control: Our prototype demonstrated that an external FPGA can successfully “talk” to the chip to steer a beam with high precision.
Preliminary Results & Future Outlook
The presentation shared exciting preliminary data: all sub-systems are working as expected, and the team is now moving into full system calibration.
Looking ahead, the project will focus on enhancing the field of view and resolution of the Optical Phased Array (OPA) while further reducing the number of necessary external connections, paving the way for a truly commercial-ready automotive sensor.