Distance measuring sensor

1. A distance measuring sensor configured to measure a distance to an object with light transmission and light reception, the distance measuring sensor comprising:

a light source including

a semiconductor optical amplifier at a semiconductor substrate, and

a resonator having a silicon photonic circuit at the semiconductor substrate;

a plurality of emitters, each emitter configured to emit a light beam generated by the light source to outside of the light source;

a scanner configured to perform scanning with the light beam by

enabling the light beam emitted from the emitter to be reflected at a mirror, and

vibrating the mirror;

an optical receiver configured to receive a reflected light beam, which is generated by the light beam reflected at the object;

a processor configured to measure the distance to the object based on the reflected light beam received at the optical receiver; and

a chip provided with a plurality of optical amplifiers,

wherein the light beams respectively emitted from the emitters are incident on the mirror in different directions,

wherein the scanner performs scanning different regions with the respective light beams,

wherein the plurality of emitters are respectively configured by a plurality of optical waveguides at the chip,

wherein the optical waveguides are referred to as chip-side optical waveguides,

wherein the semiconductor substrate has one or more substrate-side waveguides,

wherein each of the substrate-side optical waveguides is configured to emit a light beam from the resonator to the chip,

wherein the semiconductor substrate and the chip are arranged such that light beams, which are respectively emitted from the substrate-side optical waveguides, are incident on the chip-side optical waveguides correspondingly,

wherein the chip-side optical waveguides are parallel to each other at a connection part between the semiconductor substrate and the chip, and

wherein the substrate-side optical waveguides are parallel to each other at the connection part between the semiconductor substrate and the chip.

2. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of chips, each chip provided with the semiconductor optical amplifier,

wherein each emitter is configured by an optical waveguide at each chip.

3. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 1 ,

wherein each of the emitters is configured by an optical waveguide, which is connected between the resonator and an end surface of the semiconductor substrate.

4. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 1 ,

wherein the light beams respectively emitted from the emitters are different in light emission times.

5. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 4 ,

wherein the processor is configured to identify the emitters based on the light emission times during which the optical receiver receives the respective light beams.

6. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 1 ,

wherein the light beams respectively emitted from the emitters are different in directions of polarization.

7. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 6 ,

wherein the processor is configured to identify the emitters based on the respective directions of polarization of the light beams received at the optical receiver.

8. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 1 ,

wherein the light beams respectively emitted from the emitters are different in light modes.

9. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 8 ,

wherein the processor is configured to identify the emitters based on the respective light modes of the light beams received at the optical receiver.

10. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor is configured to measure the distance to the object and a speed of the object with a frequency modulated continuous wave.

11. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 1 ,

wherein the light beams respectively emitted from the emitters are different in frequencies, and

wherein the processor is configured to measure the distance to the object and a speed of the object with a frequency modulated continuous wave.

12. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 11 ,

wherein the processor is configured to identify the emitters based on the respective frequencies of the light beams received at the optical receiver.

13. The distance measuring sensor according to claim 1 , further comprising:

an additional semiconductor optical amplifier configured to amplify the light beams respectively emitted from the emitters.