  Microelectronic integration is a key enabler for the ubiquitous deployment of
devices in large volumes ranging from MEMS and imaging sensors to consumer
electronics. Such integration has also been achieved in photonics, where
compact optical transceivers for data centers employ co-integrated photonic and
electronic components. Chip-scale integration is of particular interest to
coherent laser ranging i.e. frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW LiDAR), a
perception technology that benefits from instantaneous velocity and distance
detection, eye-safe operation, long-range and immunity to interference. Full
wafer-scale integration of this technology has been compounded by the stringent
requirements on the lasers, requiring high optical coherence, low chirp
nonlinearity and requiring optical amplifiers. Here, we overcome this challenge
and demonstrate a photonic-electronic integrated circuit-based coherent LiDAR
engine, that combined all functionalities using fully foundry-compatible wafer
scale manufacturing. It is comprised of a micro-electronic based high voltage
arbitrary waveform generator, a hybrid photonic circuit based tunable Vernier
laser with piezoelectric actuators, and an erbium-doped waveguide optical
amplifier - all realized in a wafer scale manufacturing compatible process that
comprises III-V semiconductors, SiN silicon nitride photonic integrated
circuits as well as 130nm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The source is a turnkey,
linearization-free, and can serve as a 'drop-in' solution in any FMCW LiDAR,
that can be seamlessly integrated with an existing focal plane and optical
phased array LiDAR approaches, constituting a missing step towards a fully
chip-scale integrated LiDAR system.
